Referee exchange programme with San Marino

matthew-degabriele-etienne-mangionAfter last month’s referee exchange weekend with the Irish FA – when Maltese and Irish officials controlled domestic top level games in each other’s country – the coming weekend will see another such experience materialise one more time with the San Marino Football Federation.

Elite officials Matthew De Gabriele and Etienne Mangion (referees), Peter Abela and Christopher Azzopardi (assistant referees), will be travelling to the Republic of San Marino to control two matches.

On Saturday, Matthew De Gabriele will take charge of Campo Juvenes vs Dogana Libertas in Montecchio while on Sunday, Etienne Mangion will take charge of Campo La Fiorita vs Tre Penne in Montecchio. In both matches, Matthew De Gabriele and Etienne Mangion will alternate their roles as referee and fourth official.

They will be accompanied by Paul Caruana, who will be referee observer of matches between Domagnano and Fiorentino in Serravalle and Virtus vs Folgore in Domagnano.

On the same dates, referees and assistant referees from San Marino will be in Malta to control two Premier League and Division 1 matches; they will be accompanied by a referee observer from San Marino who will be appointed for two different Premier League and Division 1 matches.

Such matches will serve well for our upcoming officials, not only on a personal level but also for their future local and international refereeing experience.

These exchanges are an ongoing programme undertaken by the Malta FA to ameliorate the refereeing sector by giving our top category officials the opportunities for further development.

Later on this season, the Malta FA Refereeing Centre will be announcing other such referee exchanges.