FC Bascome unhappy about incident on the pitch, schedule changes
An on-field incident, described by FC Bascome management as “an assault” on one of its players, has led the Club to withdraw all 13 of its teams from the 2025 Kappa Classic. The teams, ranging from U7 to U15, were pulled from the popular youth tournament after Club officials expressed frustration over what they said was a lack of condemnation from Kappa organizers of the incident that was captured on video.
In a message to parents sent this evening, FC Bascome cited the organizers’ silence as the primary reason for their decision to withdraw, expressing concern for the safety and values of the young players.
The 2025 Kappa Classic, featuring 126 teams and around 1,800 participants, kicked off Thursday evening at the National Sports Centre. However, Saturday’s games were halted due to severe weather and safety concerns. Organizers now plan to resume play Sunday at 7 a.m., replacing all remaining group matches with penalty shootouts to determine advancement to the knockout rounds.
FC Bascome also voiced disappointment with the revised format and early start, saying it undermines the spirit and developmental purpose of youth football.
Here is the full message sent to parents by the Club:
“Dear Bascome players and parents,
We regret to inform you that we have made the painful decision to pull out of Kappa.
There are a host of reasons for this including weather with heavy rain in the forecast to sometime early to mid morning tomorrow. This means further delays and saturated pitches. Secondly the thought to start the games on Sunday at 7:00 am forcing players and parents to get up at 5:00 am to have breakfast, get ready, and be there at least 30 min before kick-off, is not putting the athlete first. Thirdly the suggestion to settle almost all remaining games except the finals by penalty shootout shows that the organization is not valuing the purpose of football, the desires of the young players, nor the coaches, or the spirit of the game. There focus seems to be on crowning winners and to claim success with the event. Those feel like business objectives not sporting.
However the real reason for our decision is what took place in the U7 Blue game yesterday. You might already have seen the video. It was a serious incident and fortunately no one was seriously hurt. The player is ok, and was able to continue. However no actions were taken by any representative of Kappa to [condemn] what took place, and we are not talking about the young referee. When this behavior happens at this age we believe the game of football in Bermuda, and its custodians, have completely lost their way. We must take a stance or things will further deteriorate. We are painfully aware that the only ones losing out from this decision are all our fantastic players, parents and organizers. For that we are truly sorry. However, we have decided to stand for all our young budding footballers and their dreams, and for the sport of football, and hope that you do too.
Enjoy this evening and hug your sons please!”
We have reached out to the 2025 Kappa Classic organizers for comment. We await a response.
