The Malta Football Association has rejected the assertion that clubs in lower divisions are being left behind.

In a right of reply to the story titled ‘As Malta’s footballing season gets into gear, those in lower divisions feel left behind’, which detailed concerns raised by people involved in football in Malta’s second and third tiers, carried by The Malta Independent on Sunday on 26 September 2021, the MFA said that financial assistance is given to grassroots and promotional football where all costs are fully covered for children’s competitions..

The full right of reply can be found below:

In the context we are living in, the Malta FA is doing its utmost to start all of the domestic competitions in line with the protocols and directives as issued by the Department of Public Health Regulation and SportMalta. The aim of the Association is that of prioritising the sustainability of its competitions and of complying with the health and safety procedures first and foremost. 

By way of clarification:

1.     The Centenary Stadium is the only stadium equipped with an irrigation system where the lower leagues are assigned fixtures. The other regional stadia are not equipped with an irrigation system. Studies have shown that watering of artificial turf does not improve performance and on the basis of expert advice for this specific pitch the Association deems that this is not a must have.  Regular pitch maintenance of the surface is much more important in this regard and thus the responsibility of the Malta FA is to ensure that where competitive football is played pitches are timely serviced

2.     The stretcher bearers’ role was partially removed following a process of due diligence introduced for every role listed on the clubs’ match sheet. The issue has now been resolved and the role has been restored since clubs have accepted to include and nominate members from their management committee who are duly approved as fit and proper and who will assist during match days.

3.     With regards to the use of showers for players, it is indeed not allowed to use the showers from the National Amateur League level and below. This is based on the Malta FA’s ‘Return to Play’ Protocol for Amateurs. The Malta FA has 2 types of protocols which follow the direction of the Health Authorities and the guidelines issued by SportMalta. These cover two different levels of competition – elite and amateur - and were approved by the Executive Board of the Association, with the involvement of club representatives, prior to the commencement of the domestic competitions. Much depends also on the venue concerned. Discussions with SportMalta are ongoing about this issue and the Malta FA is hopeful that all will be back to normal in the next few weeks on the basis that all players and staff are obliged to present a vaccination certificate to be able to participate in football matches. The objective is to find the right solutions. 

Finally, the Malta FA rejects the assertion that clubs in lower leagues are left behind. Communication with club representatives at Executive Board level, Standing Committee level and on an individual basis has been constant throughout the summer months before the season kicked-off. For the current football season the Malta FA has agreed to subsidise 50% of the operational competition costs of all leagues across the board from the Premier League to the National Amateur League. Furthermore, financial assistance is also given to grassroots and promotional football where all costs are fully covered for children’s competitions.