MFA President Dr Joseph Mifsud told a news conference yesterday that local private station Smash TV will be transmitting local football, especially that in connection with the Bank of Valletta Premier League.

In fact, the station has already been transmitting some league matches in full and from next Monday at 10pm, it will also be introducing a special programme with highlights from all the matches played during the weekend.

He said the MFA Executive Committee had arrived at this decision – to give the rights to Smash TV – after no progress had been registered in discussions held with PBS, One TV and Net TV, during the past few weeks. He said Smash TV could be seen from most of Malta and Gozo nowadays.

Dr Mifsud said that after protracted negotiations, the three companies had offered to unite, but their offer was unacceptable to the association. He said: “Their original offer was ridiculous, that is, much and much less than they used to pay till the last agreement that expires in June. Our final offer – after they failed to agree to the packet offered by the MFA in the tender – was not accepted. We had offered them to accept the same conditions, more or less, of the agreement just expired with the only change being in their favour – that we supply them the Malta national team matches free of charge. What they did was that they improved their financial offer slightly. This amounted to just one fourth (25 per cent) of the whole amount the three stations paid together until last season. In reality, the amount they offered would not have been enough for the MFA to send a squad to play a friendly match abroad. We certainly could not accept such an offer,” said the MFA president.

Without mentioning any figures, Dr Mifsud said, among other things, that everywhere in the world, TV companies paid good money to transmit football. “As an example, I can only say that the five or six matches Malta plays at home, provided a substantial income of several thousands of Maltese liri to the MFA. It (the income) amounts to 25 per cent of the MFA’s budget,” he said.

Dr Mifsud also said that the agreement with Melita Cable, who are to transmit over 30 matches live throughout the season, was an experiment. He added: “At the end of the season, we will examine the pros and cons of our agreement. We will have all the figures and then we will be able to make an assessment of whether the experiment was successful or not.

And referring to the future, Dr Mifsud announced that they might also start giving coverage to the minor divisions, that is, the first, second and third divisions, to start with. “I feel that the public is now served better than before because they can watch all the matches in full – live or as a film. It is a pity that the other three stations did join in the new agreement. Their decision to boycott local football has only affected the public and not the MFA, which has continued with its programme,” he said.

Dr Mifsud also announced that the revenue from these televised broadcasts will be put in the same kitty together with the income from the league matches and will be shared by the clubs accordingly.