MFA Council’s decisions according to the rules of the association

MFA president Bjorn Vassallo yesterday reiterated that last Monday’s Council decisions were taken according to the rules of the association which have always been approved by all the clubs.

He was addressing a virtual press conference, the first reaction of the Association after last Monday’s historic meeting which, among others voted by a large majority to give the title of BOV Premier League champions to Floriana. These decisions had to be taken due to the football stoppage because of COVID-19 pandemic.

He said this was done after the association had consulted not only the local health authorities, but also, among others, UEFA, the European governing body of football.

He said the issue had been discussed at all levels at the MFA – the Bureau, the Executive Committee, the Council (who he said was the parliament of football in Malta), as well as the referees, the coaches and the clubs themselves.

He explained in detail what had happened since the decision to suspend football indefinitely was announced on 31 March. After that the MFA started following the FIFA guidelines to see whether it was possible to resume the competitions as soon as possible.

But after a meeting with Dr Chris Fearne, Minister of Health, and the Health Superintendent, Prof. Charmaine Gauci, they were told that it would not be possible to start before at least 31 May.

That had led to further discussions even with UEFA which made it a point to know Malta’s representatives in next season’s European club competitions by 20 July.

He explained that this was needed because Malta’s teams normally start their participation much earlier than those ranked 1-15 in the UEFA coefficients. This led the MFA ( on 25 April) to terminate all competitions with the exception of the Premier League and the FA Trophy in the hope that these would be concluded in time to decide who was to represent Malta in the European club competitions.

He went on to say that after another meeting with the authorities, the MFA was not given any guarantee that football could restart soon.

Hence, the 18 May decision by the Executive Committee to terminate the season in all competitions.

“We had no other option,” he remarked. Then the Exco decided that Floriana will play in the Champions League, Valletta, Hibernians and Sirens in the Europa League. That was according to the standings in the Premier League after the 20th round before the stoppage. It was also decided that Birkirkara were to take part in the women’s Champions League and Luxol in the Futsal competition.

Asked whether a UEFA letter had probably influenced the large majority of the 75 eligible voters last Monday (47 voted in favour of giving the title of champions to Floriana), he said the latter had been expected the Friday before, but because that day was a public holiday in Switzerland, it had only arrived at the MFA offices on Monday morning, that is, the same day of the Council meeting.

“After all, in that letter, the European body had told the MFA that it was correct in its decisions, meaning that it was right to convene the Council and let the representatives of the clubs themselves to take the final decisions.

He also said he feels that the programme he had presented before being elected MFA president last year has now been hampered by the circumstances through which the whole world is passing.

“But I am sure I will do whatever will be possible in future.”

Among other things, he also said he did not feel the need to call for a vote of confidence, but admitted that it was clear that there wasn’t the unity he had expected among the clubs.

“Despite some allegations, I believe that the rules have been respected in the true sense of the word,” he added.

Photo: Domenic Aquilina