Manoel Island padel courts 'crucial' for Gżira United FC survival
Football club says it faced 'huge financial pressures' after €10,000 monthly income stopped when government terminated MIDI agreement
Gżira United FC has defended the construction of padel courts on its former football ground in Manoel Island claiming the investment is “crucial to keep the club alive” after it lost €10,000 monthly income when the government terminated its agreement with MIDI.
In a social media post, the football club explained it faced “huge financial pressure” after the monthly subsidy stopped and insisted that investing in padel facilities was the only way to keep the club going.
The statement comes a day after the Planning Authority sanctioned 20 padel courts illegally built on Manoel Island and granted permission for another 10 to be built while imposing a €25,000 for the illegal works.
The application, PA/07995/25, was filed by Sharlon Pace on behalf of the Gżira football club last November. It called for the “reinstatement of sports ground having variable sports uses with demountable glass structures” at the Nicholl Ground, the former site of a football pitch. The application covers an area of around 6,700 square metres.
However, the works started long before the permit was granted, with Momentum first flagging the illegal construction in March.
On Friday, Gżira United FC explained it had been given the land in 1976 to be used as sports facilities and MIDI had committed to construct a football ground in the same area, insisting this meant the land “was always earmarked to be used as sports facilities and for no other purpose”.
“This investment never materialised,” Gżira United said.
“Now that MIDI is no longer involved in the Manoel Island agreement, the club has lost the €10,000 monthly income it used to receive. This subsidy stopped the moment the government said it would terminate the agreement with MIDI.”
The football club added this led to “huge financial pressures”.
“The investment in padel facilities is crucial to keep the club alive,” Gżira United said, insisting the land “will always be used for sports, as originally planned”.
The sanctioning sparked widespread anger with Moviment Graffitti pointing out the decision had “perverse implications”.
On Friday, the Nationalist Party said the idea of turning Manoel Island into a “national park” was “a pre-election pledge that has already begun to fall apart”.
The party called for public land to be protected by law, “not merely through words”.