The Malta Football Association announced that they were postponing all football and futsal matches after growing pressure from local clubs and the Malta Football Players Association.
Initially, the local governing body had announced that all matches from its senior competitions were set to be held behind closed doors as a precautionary measure in response to growing concerns over the COVID-19 virus.
However, the decision was met by criticism by several clubs and players with the Malta Football Players Association immediately announcing that they had asked for a meeting with the local governing body of football to ask for a postponement of matches with immediate effect.
“Following internal discussions as well as consultations with its medical unit and the relevant authorities on the extraordinary circumstances caused by the outbreak of COVID-19, which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, the Malta FA Bureau this evening took the decision to suspend football and futsal matches from all competitions for the next 10 days, effective from tomorrow (Friday, March 13, 2020),” the Malta FA said in a statement.
“As stated in previous statements on this matter, the Malta FA officials and medical staff are keeping regular contact with the health authorities and reiterates that public health remains the foremost priority in the current circumstances.
“In the last hours, a number of member clubs have reported that some of their players are in self-quarantine.
The decision to postpone all fixtures supersedes the directive announced earlier today to play the matches from the senior Malta FA competitions and the Youth League and those of the Gozo FA behind closed doors.”
The Malta said that the decision to cancel all matches for the next 10 days also extends to the competitive and friendly matches, events, festivals and training sessions of the Youth FA and the Gozo Youth FA which were cancelled earlier yesterday.
“All training sessions and activities of the national football selections in the Under-17, Under-16 and Under-15 age-groups and the girls’ academy have also been suspended,” the MFA added.
“The decision taken this evening also applies to non-league football and competitions organised by Malta FA member associations.
“The association understands that this situation shall have a negative financial effect for the clubs and as such, appeals to the relevant authorities to draw up measures to help employers mitigate this economic impact.
“A meeting of the Malta FA Council, scheduled for this Saturday, has also been postponed.”
International matches
As regards Malta international assignments for this month, which include friendly matches against Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan, the MFA said that is still evaluating the situation.
“As far as the upcoming international matches are concerned, the Malta FA is evaluating the situation and to this end, discussions between all National Associations and UEFA are scheduled to take place this coming Tuesday,” the MFA said.
The Malta FA has also ordered the temporary closure of the swimming pool in the Millennium Stand of the National Stadium while the association’s offices will also be closed for the general public until further notice.