Malta risks ending with just three participants in European club competitions in future as Malta went further down in the country ranking based on the UEFA coefficients. This was revealed by MFA president Dr Joe Mifsud during a meeting of the Council of the Malta Football Association which was held on Monday.
Dr Mifsud was speaking about the recent provisional country ranking list published by UEFA which saw Malta go further down in the ranking list.
Malta is currently represented by four teams. The Premier League champions take part in the UEFA Champions League, the runners-up and the team placing third together with the FA Trophy winners take part in the UEFA Europa League. 
The basis for the UEFA coefficients is the performance of teams in European competitions during a five-year period. One point is awarded for a win and half a point for a draw. The UEFA coefficients are calculated by taking an average, based on the total number of points divided by the total number of teams of each country. The UEFA country ranking is computed by the sum of 5 coefficients in the last 5 years. 
Malta is expected to have a coefficient of 0.916 next season which puts Malta in the 52nd place, just ahead of bottom-placed San Marino. The ranking is based on the coefficient of seasons 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10. 
In summer 2005, Sliema Wanderers, Birkirkara and Hibernians failed to win any points. The following season, Birkirkara earned a point with Faroe Islands champions B36 but Hibs and Sliema failed to claim any points. The Maltese representatives in 2007 (Marsaxlokk, Sliema and Hibs) and 2008 (Valletta, Birkirkara and Marsaxlokk) all suffered defeats but this year, Maltese teams claimed good results thanks to a win and two draws for Valletta, a draw for Birkirkara and another draw for Sliema.