The Maltese women’s team, under the charge of coaches Prof. Santino Coppa and Carlo Farrugia, will be playing their home game in the Euro championship tournament this evening (7pm) at Ta’ Qali.

The president of the MBA, Magistrate Tonio Mizzi, yesterday appealed to local enthusiasts to give the local girls the best support. “It will be a very tough match, but they deserve support because they have proved themselves in the past few years. There is no admission fee and everyone is invited to attend.

“Although some changes have been made to the side, the team has maintained its positive trend. They also qualified on their own merit to take part in the forthcoming Commonweatlh Games tournament in Melbourne next March. It will be Malta and England to share the onus of representing Europe in these Games,” he said.

Magistrate Mizzi said Malta is in a tough group that includes New Zealand, Nigeria and Malaysia.

The team is again being sponsored by Michael Attard Ltd, agents for Peugeot in Malta.

MBA-FIP agreement renewed for four years

The agreement between the Malta Basketball Association and the Italian Basketball Federation has been renewed for another four years.

Mag. Mizzi said that relations with the Italians had always been excellent and they have continued to improve through this agreement.

He revealed that the Italians have now accepted Maltese players to be considered as Italians (one per team), if they are called to play for an Italian club.

He added: “We have now opened new horizons for local players. At present we have one player, Josephine Grima, who will be playing for Sicilian side Priolo. Of course, there will be no exodus of players from Malta, but it is also an opportunity for the Italians to take a closer look at our players. In future, such an agreement may be extended to include referees and coaches,” he said.

The MBA president also emphasised that the association has made it clear that all players leaving to play abroad will remain the property of their last club if and when they decide to come back.

Asked whether it could become possible again for Malta to field a local team in the Italian league, as it was in the 1990s, Magistrate Mizzi said: “The possibility still exists, but we lack the funds to do it. It is too expensive for us.”

National league

In the view of the Commonwealth Games tournament (16-23 March) in Melbourne next year, the MBA has decided in favour of a five-week stop for the women’s seniors and Under 21 categories, that is, between 20 February and the end of March.

The period will allow the coaches to assemble and prepare the squad for the one-week tournament. The Maltese contingent is already scheduled to be leaving Malta on 7 March.

Frank Camilleri, general secretary of the MBA, said that the league will start on 21 October and come to an end before the stoppage, that is, by mid-February. The remaining competitions will be staged in April and early May.

Camilleri said the men’s competitions will remain unaffected.

He also revealed that in the women’s sector, there will be two new teams, Loyola and SN Suns, but Qormi have withdrawn their participation.

Peugeot sponsorship

At the end of yesterday’s news conference, Mr Michael Attard, managing director of Michael Attard Ltd, agents for Peugeot in Malta, presented the sponsorship cheque to the MBA president.

Attard said it was the company’s pleasure to be helping such an association which is showing determination and commitment in order to achieve success. He also revealed that there could be further extensions to the sponsorship agreement, which is more or less on the same lines as that of last year, and which was the first between the two bodies.