Live streaming for BOV Premier League matches to start this weekend

With the BOV Premier League 2020/21 kicking-off this weekend behind closed doors, fans will have the opportunity to watch these matches thanks to live streaming. In fact, apart from the two weekly matches which are broadcast on TSN and TVM2, the remaining six matches will be broadcast on the platform live.mfa.com.mt

Fans would have to register in the website live.mfa.com.mt which is expected to go online on Friday and then would receive a link to view a particular match.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, MFA General Secretary Dr Angelo Chetcuti said that this initiative was something the association has been thinking about following another project for the filming of matches for technical purposes for Instat performance analysis which was launched a couple of years ago.

MFA Director Commercial Matthew Spiteri Gonzi explained that every non-televised Premier League game will be streamed online. The association invested in four football-tracking cameras that use artificial intelligence to follow the ball on the pitch. These were installed at the National Stadium, Centenary Stadium, Hibernians Stadium and Victor Tedesco Stadium.

Trials were carried out over the past days and although they cannot be compared to live broadcasts when four or more cameras are used, they are comparable to filming with one camera.

As an introductory offer, this live streaming service will be available for free for the first three match-days.

What the actual fee will be has not been determined as Dr Angelo Chetcuti explained that first they need to analyse the response of the public after these first eighteen matches are broadcast.

Dr Chetcuti revealed that selected matches from the BOV Challenge League and BOV Women’s League could be live streamed as well when the Victor Tedesco Stadium and the Centenary Stadium are being used.

The MFA General Secretary launched the new Macron kits for referees and the new official match-ball – the Puma Final 1 – the same one used in La Liga in Spain last season.

Meanwhile Dr Angelo Chetcuti spoke in detail about the preparations ahead of the domestic season which will kick-off on Saturday with the first matches from the BOV Premier League.

Dr Chetcuti said the association was looking forward to kicking-off the new season although matches will be held in particular circumstances which require a lot of preparation. He said the matches from the UEFA competitions held over the past month were a test for the association from the organisational aspect since rigid protocols had to be followed. These matches ran quite smoothly but he was quick to point out that it only takes a case of someone in quarantine or a positive test to complicate matters. He stressed that what was being done was for the safeguard of all those involved.

The MFA General Secretary explained that football activity was possible as from July 1st with regards to training and July 15th with regards to matches. He said matches could not be played before due to the legal notice. The association was in constant communication with clubs regarding the preventive measures that needed to be taken. He added that there is full co-operation with health authorities and agreed that once a positive case is identified, the MFA medical staff will do the first assessment and contact tracing while implementing the standard methods used by health authorities.

Dr Chetcuti added that the MFA Executive Committee approved regulations based on the principle of trying not to halt matches by establishing a threshold similar to the one used by UEFA with regards to squad lists where a club needs to have a minimum of sixteen players including two goalkeepers to be able to play. Clubs are also obliged to report any case of positive tests or mandatory quarantine.

MFA Director Football Operations Stephen Azzopardi explained the main points of the association’s Return to Play protocol. He said that the association had to get the domestic competitions stated and will be doing their best to run the competitions smoothly despite the abnormal situation. Azzopardi stressed that all procedures keep in mind the health of all those involved. All the ground staff had been trained in order to follow the established protocol.