Senglea Athletic issued a statement in which they claimed that although the Malta FA announced that Santa Lucia would be replacing Pembroke Athleta in the Premier League and Vittoriosa Stars in the Challenge League and that the league draws would be held on July 18 meaning, the matter is still under appeal.
Pembroke Athleta, who had won promotion to the Premier League, opted to apply for an amateur licence and therefore will be playing in the National Amateur League. The Malta FA had announced that their place in the Premier League was taken by Santa Lucia and Vittoriosa Stars, who were the third team to be relegated from Section A of the Challenge League to the National Amateur League at the end of last season, would replace Pembroke in the Challenge League. Senglea Athletic, on the other hand, were the third team to be relegated from Section B of the Challenge League.
The club said that they were given legal advice that the interpretation of the Statute of the Malta Football Association Art 5 Section VII is incorrect and contrary to principles of fair play. They claimed that the senior officials of the Association are well aware of the position of Senglea Athletic F.C. since June 17 when the first contact was established and it was agreed that the club would appeal against the decision of the Executive Board. Senglea wrote a letter on June 28 to be discussed by the Malta FA Executive Board on June 30.
The club pointed out that it was only on July 7 that they were informed that the Board of Appeal will be meeting on 12 July.
Senglea Athletic claim that since there is more than one club in the same position, in this case the third from the bottom, neither club is relegated and therefore they deserve to keep their place in the Challenge League along with Vittoriosa Stars for the season 2022/2023.
In their statement, the club stated that “Senglea Athletic F.C. is committed to ensuring that sporting justice is done in its entirety and reserves the right to take further steps if it deems it to be harmed by, inter alia, misinterpretation of the regulations as well as excessive delays which further increase the burden on the club in order to prepare a competitive team for the division in which it will be participating.”
Referenza għall-aħbar li ngħatat prominenza minn diversi mezzi tax-xandir wara komunikat uffiċjali mill-Malta Football Association fl-aħħar jiem fejn inġieb għall-konoxxenza tal pubbliku sportiv li għall-istaġun 2022/2023 il-Premier League ser ikun jinkludi lil Santa Lucia F.C., filwaqt li Vittoriosa Stars F.C. ser jipparteċipaw fiċ-Challenge League b’konsegwenza tal fatt li Pembroke Athleta F.C. għażlu li japplikaw għal-liċenzja li permezz tagħha jipparteċipaw fl-Amateur League.
Din l-aħbar uffiċjali maħruġa mill-Malta Football Association tissottolinea wkoll li l-poloz ta’ dawn il-kampjonati ser jitilgħu fit-18 ta’ Lulju 2022, ċioè li huwa stat ta’ fatt li l kompożizzjoni ta’ dawn iż-żewġ kompetizzjonijiet huwa wieħed deċiż, magħluq u definittivament finali. Jiġifieri nonostante li din il-materja għadha tinsab fi stadju ta’ appell minħabba li Senglea Athletic F.C. ingħataw parir legali li l-interpretazzjoni tal-Istatut tal Malta Football Association Art 5 Section VII hija bla dubju skorretta u tmur kontra kull prinċipju bażiku ta’ fair play, l-Assoċjazzjoni xorta ħarġet tali stqarrija mingħajr ma kellha d diċenza ssemmi li ċ-Challenge League għad jista’ jinkludi lil Senglea Athletic F.C.
L-uffiċjali għolja tal-Assoċjazzjoni jafu ben tajjeb il-pożizzjoni ta’ Senglea Athletic F.C. sa mis 17 ta’ Ġunju meta sar l-ewwel kuntatt magħhom u fil-fatt sar qbil magħhom li l-klabb tagħna jappella mid-deċiżjoni tal-Kumitat Eżekuttiv meħuda nhar il-15 ta’ Ġunju. Ta’ min jgħid ukoll li fit-28 ta’ Ġunju ntbagħtet ittra minn Senglea Athletic F.C. sabiex tkun diskussa mill-Kumitat Eżekuttiv fil-laqgħa li żamm fit-30 ta’ Ġunju.
Senglea Athletic F.C. jinnota wkoll li kien biss illum, 7 ta’ Lulju, li ġejna mgħarrfa bid-data tal Bord tal-Appell li ser jinżamm fit-12 ta’ Lulju, kważi xahar minn meta ġbidna l-attenzjoni tal Malta Football Association li l-istess drittijiet li jippartjenu lil Vittoriosa Stars F.C. jappartjenu wkoll lil Senglea Athletic F.C. Huwa indisputibbli l-fatt li l-artikolu regolanti fiċ-ċirkostanza in effetti jipprovdi sabiex meta jkun hemm iktar minn klabb wieħed li jkun fl-istess pożizzjoni, f’dan il-każ it-tielet mill-aħħar, l-ebda wieħed miż-żewġ klabbs ma jiġi relegat u allura Senglea Athletic F.C. jimmeritahom iżommu posthom fiċ-Challenge League flimkien ma’ Vittoriosa Stars F.C. għall-istaġun 2022/2023.
Finalment Senglea Athletic F.C. jinsab kommess li jara li ssir ġustizzja sportiva fl-intier tagħha u jirriserva d-dritt li jieħu passi ulterjuri jekk jidhirlu li safa daniġġjat permezz inter alia ta’ interpretazzjoni żbaljata tar-regolamenti kif ukoll dewmien esaġerat li jkompli jżid il-piż fuq il-klabb li jħejji tim kompetittiv għad-diviżjoni li ser ikun qiegħed jipparteċipa fiha.