Confirmation that Coca-Cola have withdrawn their sponsorship of the First Division came yesterday -- nine months after the decision was taken.

Last June, the soft drinks giant ended an association which had lasted around a decade when it chose to switch its financial support for soccer on the Island from the senior to the junior sector.

The Bermuda Football Association made no public announcement at the time and mistakenly sent out fixture schedules referring to the "Coca-Cola First Division''.

Bruce Barritt, sales manager for John Barritt and Son Ltd., bottler and distributor for Coca-Cola in Bermuda, said the sponsorship had been ended as there had been no evidence of success in increasing sales.

"In our heart of hearts we had to say it was not helping John Barritt and Son to bolster sales of soft drinks -- it was not a tool that helped to move cases,'' said Barritt.

Barritt had notified the BFA of the axing of the year-to-year sponsorship deal at a meeting with BFA general secretary David Sabir and president Neville Tyrell on June 23 last year, he added.

"Mr Tyrell said he was sorry that we had decided to shift out of senior football, but he was happy that we were helping with the junior side.

"What we were spending on senior soccer we agreed to put into junior soccer.

That will start in the 1999/2000 season,'' added Barritt.

The proposed deal, which includes provision of "big red bags'', containing goals with nets, bibs, cones and other training accessories, plus bench kits for junior teams, will be worth around $6,000 per year.

Sabir said new sponsors would be sought for the First Division, but he conceded that football needed to make itself more attractive to potential backers.

"We have to improve on our product and we, the BFA and its affiliates, are striving collectively towards that common goal,'' said Sabir.

"We have to try and make senior football something people can be proud to be associated with and to make them feel as though sponsorship can be contributing to something positive.

"Coca-Cola is still a very important sponsor of football and we appreciate what they have done and will continue to do for the game.'' Sabir added that it had been contractually agreed that the BFA would not pursue a sponsorship deal with a competitor of Coca-Cola for at least a year after the end of the company's sponsorship of the First Division.

Coca-Cola's name had ended up on this season's fixture lists by mistake, he added, as the name had been stored in the BFA computers and had not been deleted. "It was something that was overlooked,'' said Sabir.

Barritt said special advertising campaigns linked to Coca-Cola's backing of the First Division had failed to capture the public's imagination and there had been less than expected exposure of the brand name in the media.

"In the '94/'95 season, we had a massive exercise with souvenir cans, printed with details about the clubs and their histories,'' said Barritt.

"But there was massive indifference from the consumer and that sent a very clear message to us.'' Another promotion campaign, backed by radio advertising, had featured giving small gifts, such as key rings, to the first 200 fans to arrive at one of the weekend's games.

Barritt recalled: "I stood out there personally and people still arrived two minutes before kick-off and I sometimes wasn't able to give everything away.

It was mind-numbing.'' And the lack of reference to the company name in reports of First Division matches had also been a factor in the decision to end sponsorship.

"There has been much debate on whether and how sponsors should feature in media coverage,'' added Barritt.