During a press briefing put up by the Malta Football Association, both Malta FA President Bjorn Vassallo and newly-appointed Malta National Teams' head coach Devis Mangia spoke about the new project that the local Football Association is about to embark on.
"The Malta FA is going to embark on a long-term national project which will be a complete overhaul of the old system that has been applied up till now. We have changed not only the coach but the whole system in general. I have always stated that we have to be united together to move forward in this project with the assistance of all the clubs. There is only one language in football. We will be working hard over this project because we know what our targets are," stated Vassallo.
"The three main objectives which this project will revolve around are three. First - the Technical Centre - which will be the fulcrum of the development of all Malta National football team from Under-16 up to the senior side. The second is the participation of a Malta team taking part in the Italian Lega Pro - the equivalent of a professional third level tier. The objective of this is to get our players out of their actual comfort zone and gauge them in a truly professional set-up. The third is that of a Foundation for Football Development. The main aim of this foundation will be the development of youngsters from a young age into playing football. Our Association will be regularly introducing the game into schools on a regular basis. We will also be pushing to introduce football to youngsters in localities around Malta and Gozo because we believe that if these do not have the resources to get into the game, we must reach out and go to them and not them come to us. This is the recipe we will be working upon."
"New Malta National head coach Devis Mangia will be involved in all of this. All this will have to be synchronised in order for this project to succeed," stated Vassallo.
Vassallo also announced that the senior side will soon step back into action in March. The national teams of Azerbaijan, Gibraltar and Liechtenstein will visit Malta to participate in friendly international matches against Malta.
Newly-appointed Malta National Teams' head coach Devis Mangia, Italian, also spoke about this ambitious project and his engagement as head coach of all the Malta teams at all levels.
"First of all I would like to thank the Malta Football Association for having selected me to run this big project. It is a very ambitious project which will have to see everyone work together as a team in order for this project to succeed. The main objective, as the President has just stated is that of the development of Maltese football and making better footballers to succeed. I am not a person who says a lot of things beforehand, I insist that facts speak much more than words and for my actions in this project. Regarding the national team, obviously any player will have to prove himself in order to be selected and possibly play for the senior Malta team. I will be gauging the best elements during the appropriate time frames. Again I stress that we have to work very hard altogether and move step-by-step. I would also like to thank all those who have worked before me for their sterling work," stated Mangia.