Floriana Football Club will officially take over the historic Independence Arena, also known as ‘ix-Xagħra tal-Floriana,’ after a parliamentary motion to transfer the land was unanimously approved in Parliament on Monday.

The 45-year lease, granted through a resolution passed by the National Audit Office Accounts Committee, will allow one of Malta’s oldest football clubs to redevelop its facilities.

The land, which has long been used informally by the club, must now be used strictly for sports purposes. MPs had emphasised that the club must regularise its position and cease using the main pitch as a car park.

The Independence Arena has a rich history, once serving as a parade ground and the site of Malta’s Independence Day ceremony in 1964.

It also functioned as a bus terminus before Floriana FC adapted the area into a football training ground with a natural turf pitch.

Despite decades of use, the club never had legal title to the land, and the main pitch was, in recent years, converted into a parking area. A smaller adjacent ground continues to be used for five-a-side football.

With legal title now secured, the club is expected to press ahead with previously announced plans to construct a 4,000-seat stadium.

In August 2024, Floriana FC said it will collaborate with MIG Trade, ultimately owned by Diane Izzo of the Dizz Group, to carry out the project.

The Floriana FC lease was one of several land transfers approved by the committee on Monday afternoon, all involving 45-year-long lease agreements.

Senglea Athletic and Burmarrad Football Club also had their facilities officially granted to them, while Sliema Wanderers FC was given a renewed lease that takes into account the use of space beneath its football pitch for commercial purposes.

Other organisations benefiting from land title agreements include the Rinella Tennis Club and the Model Aircraft Flying Association, both of which were awarded long-term leases for land they already use.

Parliament also approved the transfer of several land parcels in Fgura, Kirkop, Marsaskala, and St Julian’s to the Foundation for Affordable Accommodation.

The foundation, a collaboration between the government and the Church, aims to develop the sites into affordable housing units.