UEFA ‘approves’ new Premier League format
The Malta Premier League said Thursday that UEFA has concluded that the new pro‐ posed league format meets key requirements and is in con‐ formity with its regulations.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the MPL said this conclu‐ sion follows discussions be‐ tween UEFA, MFA and MPL. The latter was assisted by European Leagues.
The green light was given fol‐ lowing minor tweaks to the pro‐ posal to further assure sporting merits and rankings, the MPL said.
This includes the introduction of a possibility of both a Playoff Final and a Final Four according to the standings of the Opening and Closing Rounds.
This decision was a condition to the MFA's prior approval of the new league format.
The next stage will be the offi‐ cial presentation of this “excit‐ ing and competitive format” giving correct information to the media and fans, the state‐ ment said.
The format submitted by MPL chairman Joseph Muscat to the affiliated clubs in the Malta Pre‐ mier League consists of having the Premier League champi‐ onship formed by 12 teams, which will compete in two phases – the winter champi‐ onship and the spring champi‐ onship.
In the first phase, the 12 teams will face each other in a round‐robin format in the first round, at the end of which the championship will split into two sections, featuring the top six teams in one and the re‐ maining six teams in the other.
The first‐placed team in the top section featuring will be de‐ clared Winter Champions while the bottom two teams in the section featuring the bottom sides will face relegation.
The second phase of the Pre‐ mier League will consist of the Spring Championship. All teams start from scratch and no points will be carried from the Winter Championships.
The same format of the Win‐ ter Championship will again be adopted, with all teams facing each other in a round‐robin for‐ mat, before being divided into two sections of six teams each.
If the top‐placed side in the Spring Championship is the same as the one that topped the Winter Championship they will be declared Malta champions.
A play‐off final for the cham‐ pionship will be played in the case that the same teams will be placed in the top two teams with one placing first in the opening phase and is runner‐ up in the second.
Should four different teams will placed in the top two places in both phases of the competition a Final Four tour‐ nament will be played, and will decide the Malta champions and the other two teams that will qualify for European foot‐ ball.