MFA plans to change pitch at Centenary Stadium

The laying of a new artificial turf pitch at the Centenary Stadium, expected to cost around Lm250,000, is the next big-scale project on the Malta FA to-do list.

This was said by Joe Mifsud, the president of the governing body of local football, in his end of year address to the MFA council last week.

Dr Mifsud suggested that a lucrative draw in January for the 2006-2008 Euro Championship qualifiers would help to accelerate the completion of this project.

Looking back on the association's work throughout the outgoing year, Dr Mifsud noted that, despite the clubs' rejection of a proposal to reduce the teams in the top division from ten to eight in order to raise the competitive standards of the Premier League, there were still positive trends in other sectors.

These included the improvement in the performance levels of our national teams, increased attendances for Malta's last international matches, and a betterment in the association's cash flow brought about by increased level of income and a reduction in expenditure.

The MFA chief also highlighted the two significant sponsorship agreements for the main domestic football competitions, and the new TV rights contract for international matches signed during the year.

"All this should boost the MFA' s hopes for better things in 2006," Dr Mifsud said.

The first mini-pitches under the UEFA Jubilee Project will be installed in the first part of 2006 while tenders for works on the new MFA headquarters at Ta' Qali are underway.

Dr Mifsud also spoke of the qualities the referees and assistants should have in order to be of service to the game both in domestic as well as international matches.

While reiterating that referees are human and are thus liable to make errors of judgment, accusations of non-impartiality levelled against them are unacceptable if not supported by proof, especially if these come from the football family.

Meanwhile, council members were told that the Malta FA will give its support to FIFA and UEFA with regards to the court case brought by Belgian club Charleroi against the world governing body.

Charleroi are seeking compensation from FIFA for the serious ankle injury suffered by their Moroccan player Abdelmajid Oulmers in an international friendly against Burkina Faso last year. Charleroi's legal action is supported by G14, the group representing Europe's top clubs.

Other news from the MFA council meeting...

¤ Malta will be in Group Four in the UEFA U-17 qualifying group together with Italy, Serbia & Montenegro and Andorra. The group matches will be played in Malta in November 2006. In the UEFA U-19 2006 competition, Malta is in Group Eight with France, Denmark and Finland.

¤ There is a new coefficient ranking system for the UEFA U-21 Championship 2006-2007. Malta is ranked 44th out of 52 countries and has been placed in pot E, one of two pots of eight teams each to play in the preliminary round. The U-21 draws and those of the European Championship 2006-2008 will be held in Montreux, Switzerland on January 27.

In the Euro Championship, Malta has been placed in pot seven. The first six groups will be of seven teams each and the seventh group will be made up of eight teams.

¤ Four Maltese referees, namely Joe Attard, Adrian Casha, Anton Zammit and Chris Lautier, eight assistant referees - Philip Agius, Konrad Borg, Alan Camilleri, Joe Camilleri, Nicholas Debattista, Charlie Micallef, Joe Rapa and Ingmar Spiteri, together with Futsal referees Konrad Borg and Ian Miller, were all retained on the FIFA list for 2006. These officials were presented with the FIFA badges by Dr Mifsud.