Malta FA to conduct UEFA-backed study on Premier League

The Malta Football Association will be conducting a comprehensive study on the BOV Premier League with the support of UEFA.

Information about this study was given during a meeting of the Malta FA Executive Committee, held on Tuesday afternoon.

Dr Angelo Chetcuti, the General Secretary of the Malta FA, explained that the objective of this study is to provide a snapshot of our top-flight championship and its impact on the national teams, benchmarking this information with other peer group countries.

The study, to be carried out by the UEFA Intelligence Centre after the European football body accepted the proposal put forward by the Malta FA, will focus primarily on:

• the impact the gradual rise in the number of foreign players throughout the years has had for clubs as well as the national teams

• a comparative analysis of the youth transfer and registration regulations across the 55 European associations

• a pathway analysis comparing to the success of Malta in graduating youth and Under-21 players into the national squad

• independent assessment of the most suitable format for our top league.

CONTINUED EDUCATION

The Malta FA has concluded discussions with the Institute for Physical Education and Sport (IPES) at the University of Malta over the organisation of a more advanced course in sports administration which will also encompass other sporting disciplines apart from football.

Meanwhile, the second edition of the Malta FA Certificate in Football Administration (CFA) came to an end on Monday.

Thierry Favre, Head of National Associations Development at UEFA, was the keynote speaker during the final session of the second CFA course, which was again co-ordinated by Malta FA Vice-President Dr Matthew Paris.

In the coming months, the Malta FA will also be organising a series of first-aid courses to train more persons involved in football, especially at club level, in the administration of first-aid procedures.

INFRASTRUCTURAL PROJECTS

With regards to infrastructure, the Malta FA has applied for funds under the FIFA Forward programme to upgrade the floodlighting system and the stands of the Centenary Stadium, and another project to upgrade the national teams’ gym.

Another major project covers the extensive maintenance works on the West Stand canopy of the National Stadium.

AWARDS NOMINATIONS

The Malta FA Executive Committee also approved the nominations for the 2019 SportMalta Awards L-Għażliet Sportivi Nazzjonali.

Forward Andrè Schembri is to be nominated for the Sportsman Of The Year Award on the back of his contribution to the Malta national team in 2018 as well as his performances for Cypriot club Apollon Limassol, who have again featured in the group phase of the Europa League this season.

The Malta Under-19 team will be nominated for the Team Award following their fine performances in the UEFA Under-19 Championship Mini-Tournament (Group Six), held at the Centenary Stadium last month.

Under the guidance of Winston Muscat, who will be nominated in the coach category, the Malta Under-19s held eventual runners-up Belgium to a 1-1 draw, beat Lithuania 2-1 in their final game and lost narrowly to group winners France (0-1) in their opening match, finishing third in the group on four points.

One comment

  1. About time. So the MFA is waking up and realising that there is a big problem with so many foreign players in the Premier League. It is no way that Maltese football is benefitting anything from these no name footballers. You can tell by how many players are turned over during the season. Have a look at the latest results Malta obtained at the qualifying rounds of the EUFA championship. They were poor results no matter what. We must give opportunities to the young players that are our future. That way they can improve our results in the coming years to come. The national team comes first before the interest of the clubs. You cannot have so many foreign players in a squad so that one team qualify for a couple of rounds in the European leagues. .

Comments are closed.