During the general meeting of the NF Board held in Milan on 13 December, the Gozo Football Association was awarded the bid to organize the third edition of the VIVA World Cup 2010. The Gozo FA was competing in the bid with FAs from the Padania (an alternative name for Northern Italy) and Kurdistan.

The GFA delegation that took part in the NF General Meeting held a press conference at Malta International Airport on their arrival. The delegation expressed its great satisfaction for the successful outcome of this meeting, which means that an international event will be organised in Gozo.

GFA President Alvin Grech said that it was very difficult winning the bid especially due to the strong competition of the Padania association. However, the NF board’s decision was wise in finding a compromise between the members. Mr Grech said that they are expecting around eight senior teams for the tournament and four female teams.

As regards the participation of the players for the representative team from Gozo, the president stated that every player who is eligible to play as a Gozitan in local competitions would be eligible to form part of the Gozo team.

The president pointed out that as soon as the GFA finalises its contract with the NF Board, the next step would be the enormous task of setting up an organisation to handle an international event of this kind. The GFA will be appointing an organizing committee that will be responsible for the necessary contacts and preparation work. When asked whether such participation by the GFA would compromise the relationship with the MFA, Mr Grech said that he couldn’t see any reason why there should be any problems, especially because there are other associations that are affiliated with the national Football Association. Mr Grech concluded by pointing out that the main aim of the NF Board is to organise football on an international level between associations that otherwise cannot have such an opportunity.

General secretary Joe Bajada, who was responsible for the presentation of the bid, said that they managed to prepare the presentation although they had a limited period available. Mr Bajada said that the presentation, which was prepared together with colleagues Philip Cassar and Mark Cini, consisted of a 20 minute DVD which not only portrayed GFA activities and its organization, but showed some of the most beautiful shots of the Gozitan landscape, which helped in the final choice to select Gozo as the destination for the VIVA World Cup 2010.

The GFA general secretary said that the contest with Padania was very challenging, as the delegation of the Italian region was formed of around 20 members. The chairperson of the delegation was the renowned Serie A referee Mario Mazzoleni, from the Bergamo section. Padania had a great interest in winning the bid and had political support of Ministers Bossi and Maroni who come from this region.

As the NF Board realised how difficult it was to choose between the two strong candidates of Padania and Gozo, it was unanimously decided that a special edition of the World Cup will be held in Padania in 2009 and the 2010 edition will be held in Gozo. The tournament in Padania will take place in the stadiums of Como, Bergamo, Varese and Verona while the final will be played at San Siro in Milan.

Mr Bajada said that the NF Board is an organisation formed of football associations and federations that are not members of FIFA. The organisation was established in 2003. The general secretary stated that the NF Board had originally suggested that this meeting be held in Belgium, and not in a candidate’s country. However, the GFA accepted the invitation of Padania to organise this general meeting in their region because the GFA believes that football should be a means of collaboration between people and not a means to create division and problems. This was very much appreciated by the delegations of other associations.

The GFA delegation was also formed of George Cini as the Treasurer of the association and Dr Joseph Grech who is the legal advisor of the association.

Last week’s story, “Gozo just misses getting the World Cup” was based on a story that appeared on Goal.com.it