The Malta Football Association issued a statement where it defended its decision to end the BOV Premier League and the FA Trophy last month following the new guidelines issued by the authorities yesterday that permitted the start of contact sport from next month.
The Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Clifton Grima yesterday announced that contact sport training will return as from July 1 and competitions can resume as of July 15.
The Malta FA said that government guidelines vindicate the decision taken by the local governing body of football to end the 2019-20 competitions as it was impossible to meet with the deadline issued by UEFA to name the teams that will compete in club competitions this summer.
“The Malta Football Association has taken note of the dates and guidelines issued by the Government today for the resumption of contact sports activities,” the Malta FA said.
“While welcoming these positive developments which will pave the way for the resumption of all sport activities following the unprecedented disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is pertinent to point out that the July 15 date for the return of competitive sports further vindicates the unanimous decision made by the Malta FA Executive Committee to terminate its competitions for season 2019-20.
“As explained on several occasions, UEFA gave National Associations until May 25, 2020 to communicate their decision on the restart or termination of the competitions. Until today, June 3, 2020, there was no official target date, set by the Government and health authorities, as to when contact sport activities could resume.
“Furthermore, the July 15 date for the return of competitive sport would have made it impossible to complete the BOV Premier League, with 42 matches remaining, and the final three matches of the FA Trophy, in a five-day period.
“This is due to the fact that UEFA had set a July 20 deadline for the submission of the names of the teams competing in the initial qualifying rounds of 2020-21 UEFA club competitions in the event that the domestic competitions could have resumed within the stipulated timeframe.”
The Malta FA said that now that the new guidelines for contact sport has been issued it will be working hard to ensure everything will be in place for the start of the 2020-21 season.
“Now that the dates and guidelines for the restart of contact sports competitions have been established, the Malta FA will be stepping up its preparations and plans for season 2020-21. The Association has today convened a videoconference meeting of the Social Dialogue Committee to discuss regulatory matters while the next Council meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday,” the association said.