MFRA contingent for Bulgaria trip

A group of 27 Maltese referees will converge on Bulgaria later this month to take part in a seminar and play two friendly matches against selections of match officials from the Balkans.

Describing the trip as a 'dream come true', Mark Spiteri, president of the Malta Football Referees Association (MFRA) said that domestic football matches will not be affected by their overseas trip.

"Matches during the period Nov. 13-17 will go ahead as planned," Spiteri said.

"We are grateful to the chairman of the Referees' Board for giving us the green light to proceed with our plans. The response from our members has been excellent. Obviously, this initiative would not have been possible without the help of our sponsors, Air Malta, Riviera Barcelo Spa and EuroSport," Spiteri added.

Adrian D. Casha, MFRA secretary, said the initiatives highlight the significant progress of Maltese refereeing in the last decade.

"Our refereeing has made giant strides forward. Thanks to the efforts of Maltese referees and the Malta FA, particularly president Joe Mifsud, Malta has maintained its quota of four referees on the FIFA panel since 1995. This is quite a feat for us considering the size of our island. There are a number of bigger countries than Malta who do not have four referees on the FIFA panel," Casha said.

Former referee Charles Agius, the MFRA vice-president, and coach Euchar Grech will accompany the contingent in Bulgaria. The stadium of Lokomotiv Sofia will be the venue for the MFRA's 'competitive' assignments - a friendly against a selection of referees from the Bulgarian FA and another against a team made up of Sofia-based officials.

The return legs are scheduled for some time next month when Bulgarian referees and other members of their association visit Malta.

At yesterday's news conference in Sliema, the MFRA officials also presented EuroSport as their apparel suppliers. New tracksuits and football kits that will be worn by the MFRA team in Bulgaria were also on display at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

The first edition of ir-referi, the MFRA's official publication, was also launched.

Jimmy Attard, marketing manager, said Air Malta is pleased to extend their assistance to referees who also help to promote Malta through their key role in football.

Slow-motion replays

Referees being an integral part of the game of football, their decisions are always bound to be put under the microscope. Recently, Dr Mifsud criticised the use of slow-motion replays to analyse refereeing decisions.

He claimed that it's unfair for officials to be judged on certain decisions when local TV stations deploy only one camera to film a match.

Asked for his views, Spiteri said he is in favour of TV replays so long as the criticism is fair and not directed to destroy match officials.

Casha also declared himself generally in favour of the use of slow motion but said that decisions are open to different interpretations, depending on the camera angle.