Football done for season as revote is nipped in the bud
By Lawrence Trott, The Royal Gazette.The Bermuda Football Association’s Special Congress Meeting to reconsider the decision to scrap the rest of the football season has been called off, effectively ending any hopes of restarting domestic play.
The decision was influenced by developments on Saturday when the Government announced changes in the Public Health Regulations, rolling back the existing measures to what was in place in mid-December.
Sport has been impacted further by the new restrictions and after a conversation yesterday between Mark Wade, the BFA president, and Shervin Dill, the chairman of the Club Presidents Forum, the decision was made to cancel the meeting.
“The meeting has been called off as a result of the new regulations and also as a result of the Premier rescinding his request for us to reconsider [the decision to call off the season]” Dill told The Royal Gazette. “We’re not going to be meeting on Monday now.”
A press release from Wade yesterday stating that “the Bermuda Football Association have confirmed that they will no longer reconsider the resumption of football” kills any chance of football resuming this season. Wade pointed to the new restrictions put into place on Saturday by Government as the reason for not going ahead with a second Congress inside seven days when another vote was expected.
The BFA also announced that youth football is off as well. “The 2020-21 season has concluded. We look forward to the start of the 2021-22 football season,” the president said.
Last week’s vote by the affiliates to end the season was a close one, 11-10, with one abstention. The next day David Burt, the Premier, publicly expressed his disappointment that football was ending and urged to clubs to reconsider the decision.
“Out of respect for the concerns from Government and some of the other clubs on the outcome of last week’s meeting, the meeting was being reconvened as a result of that, a request from myself personally to the BFA to do it,” Dill explained.
“We didn’t want to find ourselves in a situation where we were showing division because we’ve been working so hard to stay together collectively for the last two meetings. We had a presidents’ meeting on the Thursday night last week and we had a full attendance of 23 affiliates.
“Then we called for the BFA to hold a Congress meeting last Monday so that we could sort ourselves out. I felt we were in a bit of disarray over lack of information as to where we were going. We had a great turnout for that as well.”
Dill emphasised that the decision not to resume the league was one taken with safety at forefront, rather fears over income lost through restricted attendances, as has been suggested. “In the meeting we had on Monday, there was mixed emotions and feelings about the way forward.,” Dill said.
“From the request from the Premier and the minister of sport [Ernest Peets], several of the clubs felt aggrieved and I decided that rather than have division, where people were thinking that the reason we did not continue with the league was because the bars were closed and we weren’t getting income from the gate, we should meet again because that was not the truth.
“Safety was the first rationale and the second was what about the unprecedented direction that Covid is taking? From one day to the next, we don’t know what it is doing, and we have the UK variant here that is more severe and more contagious.”
On Saturday, the Premier said “we must act now”, in announcing changes in the Public Health Regulations, which came into effect yesterday.
“Cabinet met earlier today and following a full briefing from the Minister of Health determined to roll back the current measures to what was in place in mid-December,” he said.
The measure includes: an 11pm to 5am curfew; clubs and bars will be prohibited from serving patrons indoors, and outdoor service is for table service only.
Restaurants, bars and clubs are permitted a maximum of six persons at one table and the permitted gathering size is reduced to ten persons.
The BFA president said: “These regulations include a reduced number of maximum occupants within a public setting and an amended curfew. The BFA were further advised that the large gathering exemption approved by the Ministry of National Security was rescinded.”
Dill, the president of North Village, said resuming football under the present climate was not worth the risk. “If one player at a game should test positive, that impacts the two teams in terms of quarantine,” he said.
“My club had an emergency meeting on Friday night and we’re completely shutting down football at all levels. Covid is still dictating, and that’s where it’s at.
“I just came from my uncle’s funeral today. He [Quinton Binns] was a popular North Village founding member and player, and we scrambled today with the numbers that we’re allowed as opposed to what we had anticipated prior to the latest regulations.
“Government is changing rules almost every day because of the spread of this unprecedented virus.”
‛No play’ football clubs urged to reconsider decision
By Dexter Smith, Head of Sport and Lawrence Trott, The Royal Gazette.The sports minister has added his voice to an impassioned appeal by the leader of the country for football clubs to reconsider their decision to cancel the rest of the domestic season.
David Burt, the Premier, devoted a significant portion of his remarks at the fortnightly government Covid-19 update on Tuesday to the developments in football where an 11-10 vote with one abstention determined the fate of the second half of the season in the island’s second national sport.
“I am very disappointed for those young people who have been training, undergoing the necessary testing and anyone involved in preparing for the restart of the season,” the Premier said in his national address. “However, the Government respects the decision of our local football clubs and we will not question it.
“The permission to resume football has been given by the Government, and if there is an opportunity for the clubs to reconsider, then I hope they will do so, so that our young people can return to what they love — competitive sport.”
Ernest Peets, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sport, was on the same page with the Premier when he chimed in yesterday.
“It was always our hope and goal to see our athletes return to competition in a safe manner,” he told The Royal Gazette. “Our athletes and the development of sport remain a top priority.
“We understand the concerns clubs have regarding resuming football competition in our current Covid environment. Our focus will now shift to successfully starting football in the [autumn].”
The decision to end domestic football came just a week before Bermuda begin their World Cup qualifying campaign against Canada and Aruba in Florida. It was hoped that football on the island would resume ahead of those matches to give locally based players some competitive play beforehand.
However, at the Bermuda Football Association’s special Congress meeting on Monday, the clubs decided to end a season that otherwise would have extended into May in order to complete a season originally set to end on April 20.
In the time that football has been idle, there have been ten rounds of Premier Division league matches that have not been played, as well as three rounds of the Friendship Trophy and First Division Shield, and four rounds of the FA Cup.
“It is the Government’s understanding that this decision was made democratically with the individual clubs voting and voicing their reasons as to why,” Burt said of the vote.
“The Government gave permission for football to commence and was hopeful that, through the staged Return to Play initiative managed by the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport in partnership with the Bermuda Football Association, Bermuda could enjoy a return to local sport as safely as possible.”
It is unknown what effect, if any, the news that Bermuda players tested positive after returning from the training camp had on the affiliates.
Bermuda play Canada at the Exploria Stadium in Orlando on March 25 and five days later face Aruba at the IMG Academy Complex in Bradenton.
The second match was originally scheduled as a home fixture at the National Sports Centre, but was shifted by the BFA in the wake of the revelations of players testing positive either at LF Wade International Airport on March 8 or before boarding the American Airlines flight out of Miami.
The 28-member party from the weeklong camp in Bradenton is adhering to Covid quarantine guidelines, according to a BFA statement this week, and ostensibly can be allconsidered for selection by coach Kyle Lightbourne.
The sports minister added: “I wish success for our national team as they engage in their World Cup qualification matches in Florida starting versus Canada.”
There has been no competitive football locally since December 5 and the decision not to resume the season means there will be no relegation or promotion between the Premier Division and First Division.
Burt, a keen football fan, has made no secret of his devotion to Dudley Eve Trophy champions Devonshire Cougars, who were second to Robin Hood in the league when play was discontinued.
“Some have questioned why football will not return, but international events are currently moving ahead,” he said. “I want to be clear on this — the Government gave permission for football to restart and agreed with the BFA a strategy for how they can do so safely.
“Sadly, the local clubs have made the decision not to continue the season. The Government did not make this decision for them.
“Last year permission was given for many sporting events. The same permissions were given to both cricket and the rugby [World Tens Series] last year. Both of these sports made the decision to commence under the guidelines provided, while the Eastern County Cricket Association [and the Cup Match clubs] decided they did not wish to hold their competition under the rules that were provided.
“The Government provides the guidelines and organisations decide whether they wish to go ahead or not.”
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BFA pulls the plug on domestic season over health concerns.
