Following the hurling of abuse at a visiting Jamaican referee and the withdrawal of services by local officials, the Bermuda Football Association had to postpone matches on Sunday.
Steffon Dewar, the Jamaican referee, named by the Royal Gazette newspaper, was abused by Devonshire Cougars players and fans as the home side, second-placed Cougars, beat rivals Devonshire Colts 3-1 in a Premier Division match at Devonshire Recreation Club on Saturday night. The win came despite finishing the game with only nine men.
The volley of abuse came as the referee left the field at the end of the game after handing red cards in the second half to national team players Lejuan Simmons and Drewonde Bascome.
Simmons, a 63rd-minute substitute, received his marching orders for using foul and abusive language towards the referee after questioning his yellow card in the first minute of stoppage time when he kicked the ball away. During his protests after the final whistle, Simmons had to be restrained by teammates. Bascome was sent off in the 50th minute for retaliation.
Officials also had alcohol poured on them from the upper balcony of the clubhouse as they made their way to their dressing room.
The decision was made early on Sunday by the Bermuda Referees Association to withdraw the service of match officials, a move that impacted two games in both the Premier Division and First Division.
An e-mail sent out by the BFA confirmed that the matches were postponed, but it has so far issued no statement on Saturday’s night’s game.
Bermuda football has been hit by a shortage of officials with dwindling numbers forcing many games to be postponed or rescheduled.
One unnamed official said, “We’re down by nine officials right now; it’s very, very bad. You can figure it out by the number of games that have been postponed every week over the past month.
“We may have enough to run three games; anything more than that, and everybody starts doubling up.”
CMC/
