First ever Maltese international referees in volleyball

Antonello Calleja and Frankie Tanti recently became the first ever officials from Malta to acquire the right to officiate international volleyball matches, when they qualified as International Candidate Referees in a course organised by the Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB).

The course was held in Livorno, Italy, with Hassan Ahmed Mohamed (Egypt) course director and Sergei Titov (Russia) course instructor.

Besides Calleja and Tanti, there were ten others taking part. The course consisted of a number of lectures during which rules, instructions and guidelines were studied and analysed thoroughly.

All referees, then, had to officiate a number of matches in different roles, mainly first and second ref, scorekeeper and line judge. A number of tests and exams, covering different aspects of the game, were also held.

Both Calleja and Tanti have been officiating matches in the domestic competitions since 1993 and were officially registered with the FIVB in 1999.

Calleja is a member of the President's Council at the Malta Volleyball Association and also occupies the position of chairperson of the Referees' Commission within the same association.

Tanti is also a member of the Referees' Commission.