The executive committee of the Malta Football Association would like to make reference to the relevant parts of an article entitled, The MFA and the EU published under the signature of the Nationalist MP Robert Arrigo (TMID, 6 May), and for the sake of the readers of The Malta Independent would like to clarify its position as follows:
1. The Malta FA has never been invited to participate in pre-accession talks with the negotiating team. Therefore the Malta FA could not have refused to participate as alleged by your correspondent.
2. The Malta FA never planned to meet the EU behind the government’s back as alleged by your correspondent, even if it has every right to ask for a meeting with the relevant EU authorities without informing the government. The Malta FA wishes to assure everybody that there is no conflict on any issue between the government and the Malta FA, except maybe in the imagination of your correspondent.
3. The Malta FA has no intention to put Malta in a bad light “so that the Nationalist government is condemned by the EU for discrimination, and gets a reprimand and a possible fine”, as alleged by your correspondent. It only wants to protect domestic football, especially the youth sector, as it is obliged to do by its statute.
4. The use of the word “nationalist” by your correspondent gives the impression that your correspondent wishes to imply that the Malta FA meddles in party politics.
The Malta FA wishes to assure everybody that it is not a political organisation. The Malta FA is only a sports organisation that brings together persons from all walks of life who have different political thoughts, opinions and ideals but who are united and work together for one ideal, namely the practice and the development of the game of association football in this country.
5. In the EU context, the Maltese government has no power over the Malta FA to dictate what rules and regulations it should enact.
Thus how come that the EU may inflict a reprimand or a fine on the government for deeds for which it may not be held accountable?
6. In so far as the rules for the protection of the youth sector are concerned, it seems that your correspondent is at loss with himself.
On some occasions he argues that the relevant Malta FA rules indirectly discriminate against EU citizens who are not Maltese and thus are contrary to EU law (something which only the ECJ will ultimately be able establish) while on other occasions, as in his article, he argues that these rules do not keep any club from flooding the local youth sector with foreign 15 year olds. So, in this latest argument, where is the indirect discrimination? It seems that consistency is not one of the virtues of your correspondent.
7. In so far as the Malta FA rules are concerned, if the council of the association, which is the only authority entrusted by the association’s statute to change the regulations, would like to change the present rules, it is perfectly entitled to do so. The Malta FA is run on a truly democratic basis where the will of the majority prevails. However, this also means that the minority must accept the will of the majority so long as this does not go counter to the provisions of the statute or the law of the land to which everybody is subject.
8. Finally, with regards to the untrue and ridiculous comments made about the Malta FA president by your correspondent in the same article, the Malta FA president will be shortly suing your correspondent and your paper for libel.
Alex Vella
Communications officer, Malta FA