Bank of Valletta are the new sponsors of the MFA national leagues and the Super Cup.
Labelled by MFA president Joe Mifsud as the best deal ever for local football, the sponsorship is for three years.
"It is with great pleasure that I'm taking part in this news conference announcing the signing of a sponsorship deal for the national leagues and the Super Cup for the next three years," Dr Mifsud said during a press briefing that preceded the signing of the contract in Sliema yesterday afternoon.
"After lengthy discussions, the MFA convinced BoV to commit themselves to this sponsorship agreement. This partnership comes on the back of a season during which attendances for football matches increased.
"Crowd figures for the 2004-2005 season show a rise of 9,000 paying spectators on the previous year. A total of 87,000 fans paid to watch matches from the Premier League last season while the aggregate tally for all divisions is 112,000."
Apart from having title rights on the four MFA leagues, BoV will also re-launch the player of the month award.
"The best player of the month award will be revived as a result of this sponsorship," Dr Mifsud added.
"Every winner of the BoV Player of the Month contest will receive a trophy but prize-money will be donated to a charitable institution of the winner's own choice."
This year's Super Cup match, contested between the champions and the FA Trophy winners of the previous season, also falls under the BoV sponsorship. Since last year, the Super Cup was switched from May to July to herald the start of a new season.
"We are indeed honoured that BoV have shown faith in the Malta FA," Dr Mifsud continued.
"This agreement should also stimulate local clubs to step up their efforts to make domestic football more competitive and attractive."
Dr Mifsud's satisfaction at the finalisation of this sponsorship deal was shared by Tonio Depasquale, the Chief Executive Officer of BoV.
"We are happy to have successfully concluded negotiations with the MFA over this commercial agreement," Mr Depasquale said.
"Our view is that through this agreement we have entered into a partnership with football, the most popular sport on the islands.
"Given that BoV commands half of the local banking sector, we are fully conscious of our responsibility to expand our activity to cover other national interests."
"Discussions over the sponsorship package took some time to complete but it was evident from the outset that both parties were willing to come to an agreement," BoV's CEO added.
Despite the rise in spectator figures last season, Mr Depasquale's assertion is that attendances at local stadia are not indicative of the true popularity of the domestic game.
"The amount of people watching football games in local venues does not genuinely reflect the popularity of Maltese football," Mr Depasquale said.
"However, we know that football reports in the print media and the TV programmes dealing with local football have a significant audience. It was also with this mind that BoV agreed to this sponsorship deal."
Dr Mifsud said BoV had left it to the MFA to identify the sector for which they wanted to discuss a sponsorship.
"Our choice fell on the leagues because our top priority is to support the clubs who are the backbone of our game," Dr Mifsud said.
MFA negotiations with BoV were led by Dr Mifsud and Alex Manfrè, the association's treasurer, who was among high-ranking MFA officials attending yesterday's conference.
Clubs taking part in the MFA leagues will receive a yet-to-be-determined sum of money as part of this sponsorship.
Last season, there was no sponsorship for the national leagues. The last sponsor of the Premier League was the Malta International Airport (MIA).
Meanwhile, it was also announced that the draw for the national leagues will be held on Friday at the Centenary Hall.