In its sitting of the 27th December 2018, the Protests Board of the Malta Football Association upheld the protest filed by St. Andrews FC in relation to the match against Floriana, played on the 8th December, 2018 at the Centenary Stadium which had ended 0-0.
St. Andrews FC will be awarded the three points for the fixture while Floriana FC will have their one point obtained on the field of play removed.
During the same sitting, the Board also heard the protest filed by Qormi FC in relation to the match against Birkirkara FC, played on the 7th December, 2018. The protest was dismissed. The decision means that the original result (2-1 in favour of Birkirkara FC) stands.
Therefore at the end of the BOV Premier League first round, Gzira and Hibernians lead the way with 31 points, followed by Valletta on 28, Sliema and Hamrun 25, Birkirkara 24, Balzan 23, St. Andrews 16, Floriana and Tarxien 15, Mosta 11, Pieta` 10, Qormi and Senglea 4.
I wonder why the outcome is not the same for these two cases, when it’s the same rule that is supposed to have been broken, even though the way of breaking it was different. It would have been nice if the Protest Board had explained in more detail what caused one protest to be dismissed, while the other was upheld. Sadly, it doesn’t look like that information is available, even when going directly to MFA’s homepage.
Birkirkara actually had 11 homegrown players in squad as explained in this press release by the club
“Birkirkara FC would like to clarify that for the last match of the BOV Premier League played on the 7 December against Qormi FC, the Club had seven foreign players and eleven Maltese players on the original team sheet submitted at the scheduled time one hour before kick off.
Birkirkara FC originally started the match with Michael Mifsud in the starting-eleven and Nicaraguan Carlos Chavarria on the substitutes’ bench. However, Mifsud sustained an injury during the warm-up and a change was needed.
The club confirms that official change or correction to the official match report form was submitted accordingly reflecting the change to the original match sheet. This form was signed by the team’s captain Cain Attard and referee Malcolm Spiteri in the presence of MFA representative, Matthew Psaila.
This change only resulted in Birkirkara naming six foreign players in the starting-eleven with one foreign player Mislav Andelkovic on the substitutes’ bench while eleven Maltese players including Michael Mifsud in the match sheet. Michael Mifsud was physically present on the substitutes’ bench throughout the entire match.
It transpires hat the new comet sheet published did not include Michael Mifsud on the substitutes’ bench something beyond the club’s control. This statement is for the sole purpose of clarifying any misunderstandings circulating in the media.”