Floriana's title in doubt after Marsaxlokk files protest to nullify winning goal

Marsaxlokk FC has filed a match protest with the Malta Football Association challenging the result of its Malta Premier final match against Floriana FC.

Floriana won the match, and league, on Saturday with a controversial goal in the 92nd minute.

According to Marsaxlokk FC, the winning goal was the result of a throw-in that landed the ball directly in Marsaxlokk FC’s goal. The team argues that the ball did not make contact with any of the players on the field.

The goal was attributed to Kenan Dervisagic, but Marsaxlokk FC argued that the Bosnian striker made no contact with the ball from Carlo Zammit Lonardelli's cross.

“Marsaxlokk FC strongly disagrees with the validation of this goal and the attribution of it to Kenan Dervisagic. High-definition match video footage explicitly shows that the ball flew cleanly from the hands of the thrower, bounced outside the goalpost and into the net without being touched in any way by any player,” the match protest reads.

The team is arguing that the referee committed a technical error by validating the goal. It referred to the IFAB Laws of the Game, which state that a goal cannot be scored directly from a throw-in and that if the ball enters the opponent's goal, a goal kick is awarded.

Marsaxlokk FC is also arguing that the error is particularly damning because it was the decisive goal of the Premier League final.

“Should this irregular goal be allowed to stand, the 2025.26 YoHealth Malta Premier title would have been awarded unjustly, unfairly and in manifest breach of an IFAB law which binds the sport of football globally,” it argued.

Marsaxlokk FC is asking the MFA Protests Board to declare a technical error, annul and void the match held on May 16, and order that the match be replayed in its entirety.

Marsaxlokk FC is being represented by lawyers Maurice Meli and Carlos Bugeja