Two soccer clubs have vowed to prevent drug testing of their players until detailed clarification is obtained from Government about the new policy and its procedures.

Officials of Pembroke Hamilton Club and Devonshire Rec. emphasised their unwillingness to adhere to the testing during the Bermuda Football Association's council meeting at Social Club on Monday night -- an announcement that apparently stunned the governing body.

The clubs revealed that letters of their position were sent to the BFA although president Neville Tyrrell said yesterday he had not received them.

Tyrrell admitted that the position taken by the clubs had "come out of left field'' and was probably a result of them being "misunderstood'' about the Drug Free Sports Policy, which went into effect on April 1.

"I was not really surprised to hear about their positions, '' he said.

"There is a lack of understanding and some misunderstanding of how the drug policy is going to be worked and implemented.'' Tyrrell is one of two BFA members serving on the committee of Bermuda for Drug Free Sports. The other is Jon Beard.

However, the BFA are not thought to be overly concerned by the position of the clubs at this stage as the governing body had taken steps prior to the meeting to have Ministry director Brenton Roberts attend a meeting to discuss the drug policy at length.

"Yes, we took a decision several weeks ago to arrange a special meeting -- firstly to state our position and also to get clarification from Brenton on the government policy,'' said Tyrrell.

The positions taken by the clubs are understood to be separate and there is no indication that they have discussed the matter between themselves.

Representatives from both clubs have previously attended Drug Free Sports Conferences and endorsed the policy.

While PHC say they still want more information on testing, Devonshire's stance stems from a controversy surrounding the failure of visiting sailors from being tested during International Race Weekend. Beard explained the situation to them but it was not immediately known if this appeased club officials.

Under the policy's standard operating procedure, a sports national governing body can target individuals or arrange for selected events to be tested for illicit substances. Random drug testing, which will affect ten per cent of all athletes Island-wide, will be introduced this summer.

The Bermuda Sailing Association said it did not target IRW athletes because no reference was made to testing when the notice of the regatta was sent out prior to April 1 but the event will be targetted next year. Meanwhile, several Island sailors have already been tested, officials said.

Tyrrell said that the BFA's position on the drug free policy has been handed to all clubs and it remained the same.

It reads: "The Bermuda Football Association is committed to the ideals of a drug free sports environment throughout Bermuda. We have also declared our support of a drug free programme for the sport of football.

"Much has been said, either implied or stated that this will have a detrimental effect upon football in Bermuda. The executive committee disagrees.

"Rather it is a case of saying to those individuals that engage in the use of illicit and/or performance enhancing drugs that it is time to improve their physical and mental well-being. Eliminating drug use from their lifestyle will certainly aid in this process.

"The executive committee has determined that encouraging and supporting the Island's efforts to eliminate drugs from the sports community can only be seen as a positive step. Our goal is to enhance and promote our football. It is impossible to achieve this goal with the sport saturated with illicit drug use.

"Perhaps the use of drugs in football is not as widespread as many believe.

Perhaps it is a minority of persons associated with football that indulge in this behaviour. If this is the case, then we need to encourage those persons with stringent regulations, involving detection and consultation, to assist them with improving the quality of their football life.

"If a large number of football players are engaging in illicit drug use, then we have a responsibility to the local football family as well as the worldwide football family to do something about this problem.

"We will be calling a special council meeting to discuss drugs and football and how we can institute policies that will help us meet the objective of drug free sports.

"We also want to introduce initiatives for tackling the problems of drug use in football.''