The Bermuda Football Association has received official confirmation from the Ministry of Environment and Sports that its annual grant as provided by Cabinet back in 2007 for $15 million over a 5 year period or $3 million per year has been cut by 50% from $3 million to $1.5 million for the upcoming year.
Whilst we recognize the impact of the global effects on the financial sectors including the decisions that the Bermuda Government must and has taken, we do accept that this reduction will ultimately have a significant impact on our recently unveiled Strategic Plan “Rebuilding the Competitiveness of Bermuda Football.” Our Executive Council will have the tasks of determining which programs remain in the upcoming fiscal period, which programs get deferred to a late time and which programs will unfortunately be eliminated until our financial position improves.
With that being said, the Executive Council together with the support of the Clubs will resolve to address the key components of our Strategic Plan, which above all else requires that we do not deviate from our plan, that we can now complete the business plan inclusive of budgets and other financial data for presentation to our stakeholders and potential partners. Inasmuch, we will have proper financial reporting to highlight the success and challenges of our plan; we will assist our clubs with financial reporting and business planning; we will implement our league restructuring plan for the next season; we will administer our Coaching License Program and other development programs in conjunction with our local and international partners. We will also provide academic and educational opportunities for our young players. Finally, we will deliver upon a significant number of initiatives as contained in our strategic plan under the seven components namely Competitions, Player Development, Infrastructure, Security, Marketing, Resources and Administration.
The current economic climate presents a real opportunity for the Bermuda Football Association and everyone who believes in the value of sport and its impact on maintaining the social fabric of our community to join together in the spirit of solidarity and use our collective resolve to focus on what is “For the Good of the Game!”
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Bermuda Government for not reducing our grant by an even bigger percentage and hope that in the years to come our grant allocation will once again return to the level that we believe will offer us the opportunity to contribute to further excellence with football in Bermuda.
