The Malta Independent on Sunday
Bjorn Vassallo elected new MFA president
Football - MFA Annual General Meeting
Henry Brincat
Bjorn Vassallo was elected new president of the Malta Football Association during yesterday's election. He obtained 83 votes to Dr Chris Bonett's 54.
Bjorn Vassallo had started his career at San Gwann FC at a young age, but he then became a club delegate in the MFA Council, before he was elected secretary general and later CEO of the Association.
In the past three years, he has been at FIFA, working in President Gianni Infantino's office, as the Director of the world football body for Europe.
Vassallo replaces Norman Darmanin Demajo, who held the post for nine years.
What he wants and his priorities
• President to be given 4year mandate, but not more than 3 terms
• One of his priorities: Improvement in the sporting (national teams) and administrative (including technical) element
• Everyone - MFA, clubs and all stakeholders - to work together
• A restructured national stadium at Ta' Qali to be built in several phases keeping only the Millennium Stand
• Two regional hubs including a stadium in the South of Malta and a secondary stadium at Sannat in Gozo
• Assisting clubs to replace artificial turf introduced between 2007 2012
• A Malta team including some foreigners to play in an Italian lower division, in an effort to have an increase in the number of players with enough quality to be selected to join the national squad
Addressing the media soon after his election, Vassallo said he was happy and honoured to have been given a strong vote to run the MFA.
He thanked Dr Chris Bonett who was the other contestant and said they had ran a good and valid campaign in the interest of the local game.
Vassallo said it was one of his main priorities to see unity in Maltese football. “I wish to thank all those who voted for me and also those who did not. We all love the game and wish to see it improving, especially by getting better results on the field of play.
“I will now be informing FIFA president Giovanni Infantino that after my election as MFA president, I will be resigning my FIFA post. But I will also start getting a relationship with UEFA as all presidents do,” he added.
He went on to say that after this election, he will be looking forward to work hard with everyone to see a general improvement.
“There is much to be done during this new term. I am eager to start working on the terms I proposed which have been accepted by the majority of voters,” he said.