Malta increases number of match officials on FIFA Panel

● Quota of four FIFA referees confirmed, second spot in futsal

The number of Maltese match officials on the FIFA Panel for 2019 has increased as the official lists were published by FIFA on Thursday.

Alan Mario Sant, a FIFA referee since 2010, is now ranked as Malta’s top referee. The other three Maltese referees on the FIFA Panel for 2019 are Trustin Farrugia Cann, Fyodor Zammit and Matthew Degabriele, with the latter nominated for the first time.

The eight FIFA assistant referees have retained their status, namely Alan Camilleri, the longest-serving assistant referee since 2002, Christopher Francalanza, Luke Portelli, Mitchell Scerri, Edward Spiteri, Jurgen Spiteri, Duncan Sultana and Roberto Vella.

In futsal, Clint Cassar is making a return to the international fold. He is joined by David Balzan who claimed Malta’s second place on the list.

Jonathan Mallia has confirmed his place on the beach soccer list while Pierre Bonnici is set to make his debut on the global stage next year.

Kevin Azzopardi, the Director of Refereeing of the Malta Football Association, expressed his satisfaction at the recognition for Maltese match officials from both FIFA and UEFA.

“This is the result of the hard work put in by all our match officials, both on a domestic and international level,” Azzopardi said.

“Considering that, when taking into account the total of match officials in each European country, we are ranked 30th out of 55 UEFA member countries, the number of match officials on the FIFA Panel reflects very positively on our refereeing standards.

“It is testament to the efforts of the entire refereeing sector within the Malta FA.”

LIST OF MALTESE MATCH OFFICIALS ON FIFA PANEL

Matthew Degabriele, Trustin Farrugia Cann, Alan Mario Sant, Fyodor Zammit.

Alan Camilleri, Christopher Francalanza, Luke Portelli, Mitchell Scerri, Edward Spiteri, Jurgen Spiteri, Duncan Sultana, Roberto Vella.

Clinton Mario Cassar, David Balzan.

Pierre Bonnici, Jonathan Mallia.