The second General Assembly of the Malta Football Association for the Year 2022 was
held on Friday at the Dolmen Hotel, Qawra.
Among the items on the agenda were the Approval of the Minutes of the last General Assembly held on the 12th April 2022, the Presentation and approval of the Report of Activities of the Association for the year 2021/2022; the Election of Ordinary Members of the Executive Board of the Association for the year
2022/2023; Amendments to the Statute of the Association; and the election of members of the independent committees.
In presenting the amendments to the statute, General Secretary Dr Angelo Chetcuti explained that the amendments were intended to render the Executive Board competent to approve the procedure to approve the procedure to be used before the association’s judicial bodies, such as the Protests Board, Appeals Board and the Dispute Resolution Body. In this way, such procedure can be adapted from time to time.
The same applies to the fees applicable to submissions before such bodies which shall be determined by the Executive Board. The fees applicable to submissions before the Appeals Board and the Protests Board have been adjusted last month to encourage parties involved to resort to these remedies when justified and to avoid frivolous actions before these bodies.
The fee to file a protest went up to €1500 for the first team of a club in the Premier League / FA Trophy; €1000 for the first team of a club in the Challenge League, National Amateur League, Women’s League and Futsal top division and €300 for any other team in any other competition. On the other hand the fee for an appeal went up to €250 for every petition of appeal (Art. 61 of the MFA Statute) including appeals against the Disciplinary Commissioner’s decisions and €120 for petitions of appeal against resolutions or decisions of Member Associations and Affiliated Association.
Meanwhile in the case of the Protests Board where a protest is based on a claim of a technical error, the composition of the Board will be adjusted to have representation and advice of the Referees Committee while maintaining a majority of independent members.
The election of members of the independent committees followed. These include the Disciplinary Commissioner; Protests Board; Control, Disciplinary and Ethics Committee – General Panel, Anti-Doping Panel, Integrity Panel and Panel for Junior Competitions; Dispute Resolution Body; Appeals Board and its Dispute Panel and the Ethics and Compliance Committee. These were all approved.
The General Assembly was addressed by Valentina Mercolli – HatTrick Programme Manager at UEFA and Alessandro Gramaglia – Development Programmes Manager for Europe from FIFA.
Mercolli spoke about the substantial increase in funds for the next cycle of the UEFA HatTrick programme, starting in 2024, which was crucial for small countries like Malta, and added that UEFA Grow – UEFA’s business development support programme – welcomed the association’s first strategy document which was launched last year and the rebranding of the association thanks to which two separate brands are being used: one for the National Team and another for the corporate identity.
Gramaglia, on the other hand, said that FIFA’s COVID-19 Relief Plan supported member associations, including the Malta FA with grants and loans throughout the past two years and that through the FIFA Forward programme, the association could continue to improve its infrastructure apart from being able to run other projects. He finally congratulated Malta FA President Bjorn Vassallo and General Secretary Dr Angelo Chetcuti for their progressive view of football.
The next General Assembly will be held in November.