ASA president Joe Caruana Curran yesterday announced some changes for the association’s competitions, among them new formats as well as the shifting of the KO competition from the end to the middle of the season.

Explaining such moves, Caruana Curran said he hoped that such moves and changes will be an attraction which will draw bigger crowds to Tal-Qroqq.

Topmost among the changes are the introduction of play-offs. Also, in league competitions, three points will now be awarded for a win, one for a draw and no points for a defeat.

Valletta United

He said eight teams have confirmed their participation in this year’s national competition in summer and possibly there will be another one. He added that there could be a return by former giants Valletta United. The citizens have accepted to register Marsaxlokk players who had expressed a wish to continue playing the game despite their own club’s decision to withdraw from competition.

However, Valletta’s participation is still in doubt. “They have to start from scratch. First of all they have to affiliate once again with the ASA and then follow all the other procedures, although I firmly believe that there will be no problem to accept them within our ranks,” Caruana Curran added.

New formats

There will also be new formats for all competitions, including the Super Cups and the KO competitions.

Among other things, in the winter league, the clubs registered to take part are Exiles, Marsascala, Neptunes, Sliema, Sirens and San Giljan. The ASA Under 17 side is also taking part, but it will be out of competition. Their participation will serve them as training in preparation for the international commitments.

This league is to be played on a round-robin basis between all participants. It will be played between 5 March and 17 April with a break in the 7-10 April weekend.

The semifinals will be played on a best of one play-off, but the final, will be held on a best of three play-off.

Super Cups

The President’s Cup and the Ghaqda Gurnalisti Sports Cup will be played as distinct competitions. Usually one match served two purposes – a league match which was also valid for the Cups.

The President’s club will be contested by the previous season’s first division champions and KO winners, while the GhGS Cup will be played for by the previous season’s Division II champions and KO winners.

KO competitions

There will be separate competitions for division one and two. Every fixtures, except the final, will be played over two legs with the aggregate score determining the winner. The final will be a best of one play-off.

The two competitions are to be played between 7 and 17 July, that is, after the league’s preliminary round and the Super Cups.

The leagues

Preliminary round

Eight clubs – Exiles, Marsascala, Neptunes, Otters, San Giljan, Sirens, Sliema and Ta’ Xbiex have confirmed their participation with the possibility of Valletta United also entering the scene later on.

The teams will be divided into two seeded groups of four teams each with last season’s first and second placed teams comprising the top seeds. A single round-robin league will be played within each group with the matches between the top seeds and bottom seeds being played first and the matches between the top two seeds being played last. This group phase starts on 7 June and comes to an end on 19 June.

After the preliminary round, the top five placed teams will qualify for Division One. The rest of the teams, including those who would not have participated in the Preliminary Round, qualify for Division Two.

Bonus points

Points will not be carried forward from the Preliminary Round to the Div. One and Div. Two leagues.

Instead, bonus points from five to zero according to places after the preliminary round and in the first division from four to one in the second division will apply. Teams who will not be taking part in the preliminary round, start the second division with zero points.

Divisions One and Two

The two divisions will be played on a double round-robin basis and the final classification of each league will determine the composition of the play-offs. Both leagues are to start on 20 July and come to an end on 24 August. Matches are to be played at weekends and even in midweek with most of them being held on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The division one play-offs will be played over two rounds, that is, two semifinals and a final. The semifinals (1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3) are to be held on a best of three play-offs, while the final will be played on a best of five play-offs. The winner overall will be declared national champion.

The first and second placed teams in the second division will play a best of three play-off series to determine the second division champion.

The first division play-offs are to be played between 26 August and 10 September. Those in the second division start on 26 August, but come to an end on 2 September.

Winter League draws

The draws for the forthcoming competition – the Winter League - starting on Saturday 5 March, were also made yesterday.

The fixtures are as follows:

Saturday 5 March: 4pm Marsascala-Exiles; 5.15pm San Giljan-Neptunes; 6.30pm Sirens-ASA U-17.

Sunday 13 March: 3pm San Giljan-Sirens; 4.15pm Neptunes-Sliema; 5.30pm ASA U-17-Marsascala.

Saturday 19 March: 3pm Marsascala-San Giljan; 4.15pm Sliema-Sirens; 5.30pm Exiles-ASA U-17.

Saturday 26 March: 3pm Neptunes-Exiles; 4.15pm Marsascala-Sliema; 5.30pm ASA U-17-Exiles.

Thursday 31 March: 2.30pm Sirens-Neptunes; 3.45pm San Giljan-Exiles; 5pm Sliema-ASA U-17.

Sunday 3 April: 9.30am Sliema-San Giljan; 10.45am Exiles-Sirens; 12.00 Neptunes-Marsascala.

Monday 4 April: 6.30pm ASA U-17-Neptunes

Saturday 16 April: 6pm Exiles-Sliema; 6.15pm Sirens-Marsascala.

Saturday 7 May: 5pm Second placed-Third placed; 6.15pm First placed-Fourth placed.

Wednesday 11 May: 6pm Fifth placed-Sixth placed; 7.15pm Play-off final match 1

Friday 13 May: 6pm Third Place-Fourth placed; 7.15pm Play-off final match 2.

Sunday 15 May: 7pm Play-off final match 3.