I’m quite surprised by the reaction of the Malta Football Assocation’s CEO Bjorn Vassallo to the article that appeared on March 23, attacking club officers for criticising referees. Since when are referees above criticism?

If Mr Vassallo is happy about the referees’ control this year, then I’m duty bound to inform him that almost every follower of Maltese football, and that includes club officials, players, technical staff and supporters, are everything but happy with the quality of refereeing we’re witnessing this year. Referees should be there to enforce the rules of the game, which have to be the same for every game, irrespective of who’s playing who.

How can Mr Vassallo explain the disallowed goal, to give one example of many, of Ryan Darmanin in the Floriana vs Hibs game which according to the rules of the game is completely valid; such actions in other games are usually deemed valid.

What did Mr Vassallo expect from the same club officials? To stand up and applaud the very harsh decision which practically could ruin a whole season for that particular club?

Yes referees are human, and as humans, make mistakes, but with all the mistakes we’re witnessing in practically every match of the Maltese premier league, one wonders if the referees assigned know the actual rules. This reminds me of a nice saying in Italian: errare è umano, perseverare è diabolico…

And one other thing. Passing comments, even jokingly, about a particular team not having any chance of winning any silverware this season, is not only disrespectful of the committee, players, technical staff and supporters of the said team, but also belittles the position of MFA CEO which Mr Vassallo currently occupies.