Floriana FC president Riccardo Gaucci has made it clear that his players are ready to return to the pitch and complete the 2019-20 season if the health authorities give their permission so that the BOV Premier League can resume.

However, the Italian businessman has made it clear that should the authorities inform the MFA that there are not the conditions so that competitive football can be played due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the local governing body must follow on the UEFA guidelines and hand out this year’s verdicts on the sporting merit which are mirrored in the current Premier League standings.

The Floriana president was giving a reaction to a report that appeared on local media on Monday that quoted Victor Sciriha, the Valletta supremo, as saying that the championship should not be assigned to Floriana as not all matches have been played.

The Times of Malta on Monday contacted the Valletta president to open up further on his comments and he made it clear that it would not be fair that Floriana should be crowned champions with six matches still to be played.

“If the BOV Premier League is not completed I don’t think it would be fair to assign the league championship,” Sciriha said.

“At the moment there are six matches left and we are trailing Floriana by just three points. It’s not an unassailable lead.

“I believe that if the remaining matches cannot be played, the league title and the remaining European spots should be decided in a play-off format.

“It would be on a shorter form and could be played in much less time thus these can be held even in July if needed be.”

“It has been more than a month that we are in this uncertainty of what is going to happen and we need some concrete answers”- Riccardo Gaucci

However, Gaucci had a completely different opinion and said that while Floriana are more than ready to play, should the remaining six Match Days be held, there cannot be any other formats to decide the title.

“I want to make it clear that Floriana FC are ready to play,” Gaucci said.

“We have been preparing for the resumption of the league championship for the last few weeks and we’re raring to go.

“However, late last week the Premier League clubs have taken a vote on the way ahead and the majority of the representatives have voted in favour of stopping the championship all together.

“I think at this moment, the MFA must take into consideration what is the will of the top-flight clubs. I repeat, as Floriana FC, we have abstained because we are ready to play but it has been more than a month that we are in this uncertainty of what is going to happen and we need some concrete answers.

“At the moment we have ten overseas players in Malta and the others don’t know what will be their fate so it’s time to make a decision, either we play or not.”

Asked on what should be done if the championship is stopped, Gaucci said that based on what it was done in the other countries and on the guidelines issued by UEFA, the championship must be decided on sporting merits.

“If the championship is stopped it has to be decided on sporting merits attained on the pitch and the league standings are quite clear on that,” Gaucci said.

Asked whether he would be ready to accept Sciriha’s proposal of deciding the top positions via play-offs, Gaucci immediately responded: “Absolutely not.

“The league championship is determined in one format. If the association decides that we can play we will but if there are not the conditions, the UEFA rules have to apply for everyone irrespective of what Valletta think.

“I spoke with a lot of presidents who told me that they thought that if it was Valletta in our position, probably the MFA would have already decided as Valletta always put pressure on the association.

“But we are not Valletta, we are Floriana but in the Premier League there are 13 other teams who have the same value and importance as Valletta FC.”

The Floriana president made it clear that this period of uncertainty has to stop and the MFA has to make sure a final decision is taken so that everyone will know what is going to happen.

Medical protocol

In recent weeks, there has been talk that the Malta FA would need to present a stringent medical protocol for Premier League matches to resume. That would inevitably put a financial burden on the clubs.

Asked whether such protocol could be applied in Malta by all clubs, Gaucci was not to sure.

“What I can say is that in Italy, the Serie C will not restart as they cannot meet these security measures, the Serie B too will find it hard,” Gaucci said.

“On the other hand, in Serie A 70 per cent of the clubs have their own pitch and can sanitise all their facilities. Here, in Malta, objectively, this protocol done in Italy would be difficult to be implemented therefore it’s going to be difficult for Maltese football to return this summer.”