Fashion retailer Dizz Group is converting football pitches at Tigné into shops but it does not have permission from the sports facilities commission.

According to plans unveiled last year, two Sliema Wanderers indoor football pitches situated on two levels at the Tigné complex will be converted into offices and retail outlets spread over 2,681 square metres.

However, the body overseeing ventures between sports clubs and commercial entities has yet to grant permission.

Works are progressing at a steady pace and Dizz Group, the fashion retailer running the mall, is keen to open its doors in July. 

What is the delay about?

The football club had received “preliminary authorisation” from the Commission for the Commercialisation of Sports Facilities to transform the pitches into a mall. However, a company spokesman had said all agreements were subject to the “obtainment of full authorisation” from the commission in line with the law.

The project is the first of its kind, in that the football club is taking advantage of new legislation allowing sports organisations to commercialise their venues. The government hopes this will help them become financially self-sufficient. The law also specifies that the size of the sports facilities must not go down as a result of a commercialisation project.

However, there are doubts over whether the project even has a development permit, as commission approval is necessary before any of the proposed ventures can be assessed by the Planning Authority. This is clearly stated in the document announcing the issue of unsecured bonds for D Shopping Malls Finance plc., which is fully owned by Dizz Group.

Who are Dizz Group and what has their reaction been?

Dizz Group did not answer questions on the matter, despite repeated requests.

According to a media report earlier this month, the mall is set to open its doors in July, with Dizz Group CEO Diane Izzo quoted as saying the retailer had been working on the project “for months”. 

The report also included contact details for those interested in renting out offices at the complex, which Ms Izzo said would have about nine shops.

Diane and Karl Izzo, owners of Dizz Group.

However, a spokesman for the Youth, Sport and Voluntary Organisations Parliamentary Secretariat, under whose remit the commission falls, confirmed that the venture had yet to be given the green light. 

He said the commission was dealing with the clubs and “all applications submitted by the relevant sporting entities are undergoing the established process according to the law”. But none of the applications had yet been approved.  

The Dizz Group’s co-owner, Karl Izzo, is a member of the commission but the spokesman for the parliamentary secretariat had insisted with Times of Malta he would not be involved in the project evaluation process and had disclosed his interests “from day one”. 

Mr Izzo is Malta’s Ambassador to Montenegro and is also the coach of Malta’s national waterpolo team.

The fashion group has had a long-standing relationship with Sliema Wanderers FC, who secured a sponsorship deal with the retailer in 2016. 

At the time, Sliema Wanderers FC president Keith Perry, who sits on Sports Malta’s board of directors, described the agreement with the Dizz Group as a “natural marriage”.