MFA rules prohibit Muscat from taking part in Italy Serie C project as long as he is an MP
The Malta Football Association’s statute and regulations prohibit former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat from being officially part of the MFA project to have a team of Maltese nationals playing in the Italian Serie C, MFA president Bjorn Vassallo said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Robert Abela, Vassallo said that MFA rules strictly prohibit the participation of politicians in football projects. Muscat is still a serving MP, and being such prohibits him from being part of the MFA’s project. If he were to resign from the position, then he would be free to join.
Vassallo was asked by journalists about the reported involvement of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in one of the MFA’s keynote developments - that of a professional team for
Maltese players which will compete in Italy’s Serie C. Days after resigning from the post of Prime Minister, Muscat had a long meeting with Vassallo on this very topic, with Muscat seemingly building on the focus he said he would give to sports in his last speech as Prime Minister.
Asked whether he believed Joseph Muscat could be a person who brings the unity in sports that Vassallo would like to see, the MFA President replied that he would not single out individuals and that as president of a sporting organisation he would not be drawn into partisan arguments.
However, he said, the MFA’s doors would be open for anyone who has football in their hearts and want to help the development of the sport as long as things are transparent and the person is fully accountable for what they are doing. “I will always do the best for football,” he said.
On his part, Prime Minister
Abela said that he “does not go into the decisions which the MFA takes. Those are decisions which the MFA has to take and naturally as a government we cannot interfere in that type of decision”.
Asked in what manner the government would be supporting the MFA’s project, Abela said that no decision had been taken yet, but did call on people not to carry out a crusade against sports.
“Sports is crucial for our country, and as a government we have an obligation to promote sports - things should be done transparently, and we should look to advance.”
The Maltese team participating in Italy’s Serie C was one of Vassallo’s keynote proposals in the running of his election campaign, and there has been strong progress in this regard which means that the idea may come to fruition quite soon.
The team will see some 10 Maltese players hand-picked from domestic football to sign with the team and train and play football at a professional level, and while discussions surrounding the logsitics of the project are still ongoing many in the Maltese footballing world have expressed a sense of cautious optimism about the project and the effect it could have on the prospects of the Maltese national team.