Vic Hermans: "All amateur players should be allowed to play Futsal"

Malta national Futsal coach Vic Hermans launched an appeal to the Malta Football Association to change regulations so that all amateur players would be able to play football and futsal at the same time. Hermans was speaking the day after Malta registered its first ever home win and the second win ever in futsal after defeating Switzerland in the fourth edition of the Malta International Futsal Tournament which is being held at the Corradino Pavilion.

The Dutch coach was obviously happy with the result. He said that he came to Malta two years ago with the objective of improving the level of the game in Malta. Hermans said that when he looks back, he noticed that Malta has a lot of talent but one had to find a way how to use this talent. He said the sports culture on the island needs to improve.

Vic Hermans said that MFA regulations are there to protect football but this may be hindering the development of futsal. He revealed that there were national Futsal team players who did not turn up for the game after being stopped by their football clubs.

Hermans stressed that regulations must be changed in order to allow amateur players to be able to play both football and futsal. This is what after all is encouraged by FIFA regulations.

Speaking about the game against Switzerland, Hermans said that Malta controlled the game, therefore deserving to win.

When asked about his future as coach of the Malta national Futsal team, he said that although he really likes Malta, he had come to Malta to coach and not to enjoy himself. Therefore once he feels he cannot give his influence anymore, he would quit.

MFA Technical Director Robert Gatt said the Technical Centre will continue to support Futsal. He said the national team had a good pre-season and revealed that following the change in format for the National League and the Women’s League, changes are in the pipeline for Futsal competitions as well.

Xavier Saliba, scorer of the second goal which handed Malta victory on Sunday, said that scoring the winning goal was a “sensational emotion.” He went on to say that this second win for Malta was the result of training and hard work by the technical staff and national team players.

Malta captain John Cutajar said that over the past two years, the team showed significant improvement He expressed his disappointment that attendance for Sunday’s game was rather poor.

Malta takes on Greece in the second game from the Malta International Futsal Tournament on Monday, kick-off at 20:00.

Photos: Copyright © domenic aquilina