The Malta Football Association announced that Adrian Casha stepped down from the post of Director of Refereeing with immediate effect following a meeting with MFA President Norman Darmanin Demajo. Kevin Azzopardi will in the mean time take the role of Director of Refereeing until the end of the season.

The MFA stressed that Casha was never being investigated for misuse of the MFA funds and that he had always acted with integrity and always put the interest of the refereeing sector first.
In a statement, the MFA President and the association thanked Casha for his sterling work within the refereeing sector and said that during his tenure, the refereeing sector made great strides.

In the letter of resignation, Casha said ” I acknowledge that I may not have followed the normal procedures when payments were made to refereeing staff for the independent football tournament held last year, and for this I will always bear a great regret. However, please keep in mind that I have always acted in good faith and have taken all decisions, good and bad, with the utmost integrity and with the best interests of the refereeing sector at heart.”

“I am aware that this shortcoming from my end may have caused the Association, and anyone involved with the refereeing sector undue concern, and for this I truly apologise.”

“I thank you wholeheartedly for the honour you have bestowed on me to run the refereeing sector for the last 5 years and I hope that all the positives that my work has produced during this time outweigh the negatives, and that in my small part I managed to contribute to the development of Maltese refereeing,” said Casha.

Meanwhile Kevin Azzopardi, a referee for eighteen years and a FIFA referee in 2013, controlled a total of 114 Premier League matches between 2004/05 and 2012/13. For the past two years, he served as Administrator within the MFA Refereeing Department and as a Match Observer.

The Malta Football Association wished Azzopardi success in his new role.