The COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for major change within local sports, particularly in the field of football.
Since its outbreak in March, Malta has seen all of its leagues facing an early end to the 2019-20 season, the Premier League title awarded to Floriana FC with six games to go, promotions to the top two teams of the lower divisions but no play-off for the next in line, as well as bottom-placed teams escaping relegation.
With the help of its ‘Return to Play’ protocols, the Malta Football Association (MFA) managed to restart its competitions in October.
But because this restart was nearly two months later than the usual kick-off to the season, teams have since faced schedules that require them to play more than once a week.
This comes added to the numerous postponed matches as a result of clubs being put into quarantine due to positive cases.