The election of Norman Darmanin Demajo as the new president of the Malta Football Association was not a surprise. The man and his team have been working hard over the past three years, ever since losing by a whisker to Joe Mifsud in 2007, to convince the local football fraternity that the time has come for change.
What was surprising is the overwhelming way in which this victory was achieved. Mr Darmanin Demajo polled two thirds of the votes cast last Saturday, picking 77 preferences of the 108 cast – a clear sign that the MFA delegates saw the need that, after 18 years, Dr Mifsud makes way for a new beginning.
Dr Mifsud’s tenure in office will be remembered for the construction of the new Millennium Stand and the Centenary Stadium. Under his administration, the MFA became more professional in its approach and Dr Mifsud’s important posts on the international level – he was for a time a FIFA executive member and still holds the position of UEFA vice-president – no doubt put Malta in the limelight.
But his detractors found fault in his style of management, which they said concentrated more on what the MFA, as an institution, could do and obtain rather than help the individual clubs to move forward too. And, as such, while the MFA developed steadily, the clubs felt they were being left behind.
Over the past years, there were many disputes between the association and various clubs, both individually and as a group, and very often the clubs believed that the MFA was ruling with an iron fist, rather than trying to find a compromise.
More recently, the bribery scandal that rocked the foundation of Maltese football – with the result that two premier league clubs were relegated – also gave a bad name to the game. Of course, neither Dr Mifsud nor the MFA was involved, but the way the scandal was tackled, and the resultant delayed suspension of the premier league, did have a negative effect on the game’s administration.
Dr Mifsud’s late efforts to win back the support that he had lost in the last three years proved not to be enough to overcome the backing that Mr Darmanin Demajo managed to build up with his planned programme, and the result of last Saturday’s election is a confirmation that the delegates see in the St Andrew’s official the man who can give a new lease of life to Maltese football.
Mr Darmanin Demajo’s pledge to give clubs the importance that they deserve, and to help them continue to restructure themselves, was probably the factor that tilted the balance in his favour. His motto – “clubs, clubs and clubs” – must have been the determining force in swinging the election his way.
What must also be pointed out is that, after all the differences that were exposed in the run-up to the election – there are pending court cases which Dr Mifsud and Mr Darmanin Demajo filed against each other in the past months – the two officials shook hands after the general meeting and wished each other well.
One now hopes that this battle, which sometimes verged on the personal, will be put aside in the best interest of Maltese football.
Dr Mifsud could still play his part in his international role, one that has given him personal satisfaction as well as giving Malta an opportunity to be present where it matters.
For his part, Mr Darmanin Demajo will now start his work as the leading man in Maltese football. He has a tough challenge ahead of him, but we are sure that his management skills will enable him to sail the football boat into calmer waters.