The Malta Football Association delegates were not fooled this time round.
Three years ago, late efforts by Joe Mifsud had helped him retain his position as MFA president with just three votes. This time, it was his challenger, Norman Darmanin Demajo, who triumphed, picking up nearly three-fourths of the votes cast to take the top football post until 2013.
That there were currents pushing for change was easy so see. But even the most optimistic never expected Mr Darmanin Demajo to win by such a big margin.
Dr Mifsud did not know what hit him when the votes were being counted, and it became immediately clear where the election was going. Maybe he was too proud to realise that the tide had turned against him. Maybe the delegates pulled a fast one on him this time, pledging their support when they met him and then voted for his opponent. Or maybe he is too arrogant to believe that he could have lost.
Perhaps he should have foreseen what was coming, and either left in the middle of his three-year tenure or chosen not to contest. But he was too blind to understand what was happening, and ended up being defeated in a humiliating manner.
He dished out desperate last-minute promises, probably thinking that he could win back the support he had lost. It was too late. It was evident that the clubs were all for change. The way they voted overwhelmingly in favour of id-Dede showed that those tardy gimmicks did not affect their frame of mind. Not this time.
Victory could not have been sweeter for Norman Darmanin Demajo. Three years of hard work, together with his right-hand man Bjorn Vassallo, had culminated in the demolition of his direct opponent. It was time to celebrate, and for Dr Mifsud to pack up and go.
Under Dr Mifsud, the MFA made important strides forward, mostly from an organisational point of view. But the clubs felt that they were not receiving the attention they deserved. The focus was on the growth of the association, but as the MFA became stronger and richer, the clubs became weaker and poorer.
It was like a tree whose trunk was solid, while the branches remained fragile.
Mr Darmanin Demajo’s pledge is to work so that these branches become healthy again, and flourish in the same way that the MFA has done in the past years. Dr Mifsud was correct to say that he leaves behind him a strong association; what he failed to understand was that the clubs needed support to become strong too.
Dr Mifsud’s style of management did not help. He was feared by all those around him, and feared is not a synonym of respect.
I remember being warned by colleagues the first time I attended an MFA press conference. Be careful in your choice of words if you are going to ask questions, I was told. I just could not understand why. But then I could feel that people – MFA officials and journalists – behaved differently when he was around.
The more time passed, the more I realised that many of my colleagues were afraid to criticise the MFA and Dr Mifsud. Last year, at the height of the bribery scandals that led to the relegation of two premier league clubs, the situation was ignored in the sports media for many weeks. It was as if nothing was happening.
I wrote it last year and I write it again today. Sports journalists were too scared that they would have ended up under Dr Mifsud’s microscope, as I did when I wrote about the matter. The incident concerning Mark Attard, one of the few sports journalists who dares to call a spade a spade, is just an example of how journalists can be treated if they lock horns with Dr Mifsud.
I do not think that the handshake we saw between Mr Darmanin Demajo and Dr Mifsud has brought their personal differences to an end. They had grown too much apart in the past years for the grudges to be forgotten so quickly. The conciliatory speeches the two contestants delivered after the election result were welcome, but it is hard to imagine that they have turned a new leaf. For one thing, the court cases they instituted against each other still have to be decided.
But now that the election is over, it is time to move on.
Mr Darmanin Demajo knows that he has a tough challenge ahead of him. He has promised changes, and now he must deliver them. What is important is that he knows that he has the backing of the clubs who elected him.
I am sure that he will work closely with them and they will, in turn, provide him with the collaboration needed. The association and the clubs must work together for the overall benefit of Maltese football.
Having an association that pulls in a different direction to that of the clubs is not the right way forward.
* * *
Speaking of football, but from a totally different aspect, I was pleased to hear that Italian state television Rai will be abolishing the so-called “moviola”, or slow-motion footage that exposes mistakes committed by referees and their assistants.
Instead, as from this season, it will be picking three incidents that will be studied by a commission and explained a week after they happen. This will take the form of a didactic feature, rather than one that is solely aimed to create controversy.
For too many years, Italian football has suffered because, rather than discuss games in their entirety, sports programmes ended up dissecting referees’ performances. Naturally, this brought about accusations that certain teams were being given advantage over others.
The elimination of the moviola will hopefully restore some of the dignity that Italian football has lost. It is a pity that other media organisations have not taken the cue from this bold step, and have since pledged to give slow-motion footage even more importance, as if to make up for Rai’s decision.
Little do they realise what harm they are causing to the Italian game. It is ironic that the Italians speak of England as the country they should emulate in the way football is talked about, and yet they persist in creating controversy out of nothing. If they really want to follow the English style, they should realise that the game finishes in the 90th minute, and does not last a week or more.
Rai should be commended for taking such a step.
[email protected]