MFA president Bjorn Vassallo admitted that the local governing body could not delay further a final decision on whether its top competitions could resume as they were tied by a May 25 deadline set by UEFA.
The Times of Malta spoke with the MFA president just a day
after the governing body’s Executive Committee decided to bring to an end
prematurely the BOV Premier League and the FA Trophy after the health
authorities failed to give enough guarantees that contact sport such as
football could return next month.
The MFA’s decision inevitably drew a mixed response from the
local football fraternity, with those who were in favour of resuming the season
questioning why Malta couldn’t follow the example of countries such as England,
Italy and Spain who have delayed a final decision on the fate of their
competitions.
“A lot of persons have been questioning why the MFA didn’t
further delay a final decision on our competitions but the answer is very
simple, we are tied by a UEFA deadline,” Vassallo said.
“UEFA has set deadlines to all the European countries
according to their club coefficient ranking with the top 16 countries given a
far longer time to complete the competition.
“The countries below have shorter deadlines and with Malta
ranked 47th we were obliged to give a response by May 25.
“With the authorities not being able to give any sort of
guarantees we could not enter into the unknown and took the only decision that
could give some kind of stability in these times.
“Every country adopted a different strategy from each other
and although the numbers in Malta were contained, our authorities only started
to lift some restrictions at the start of May and again on Monday.
“The MFA process to try and restart started many weeks ago
when we lined up a medical protocol that was written in consultation with our
medical experts, the personnel in the competitions department and the technical
centre.
“It was a rigorous protocol that needs a huge financial
investment but mirrored the reality of Malta which sees a third of the clubs’
employees, administrators and referees and officials who have another employer
apart from their club or their association.
“When we presented the protocol, we gave the authorities two
weeks’ time to approve it. But the reality is that even in other countries,
where there are professional players living in a professional environment, they
are also finding it tough to implement it.
“When we met the health authorities, I asked them should it
be possible for football to return would we have healthcare professionals
available to implement this protocol and obviously I couldn’t have a positive
response at this time given the situation we have and the fact that there are
300 health care workers in quarantine.
“In the end, we had to take the best possible decision that
could give some much-needed stability to our movement and provide a solution
and we couldn’t decide differently.”
Now that the season has been concluded prematurely, the only
verdicts that have been decided so far are Malta’s four spots in the UEFA club
competitions.
European places
According to the MFA rules, Floriana, who were leading the
standings until the Covid-19 stoppage, will compete in the Champions League
qualifiers while Valletta and Hibernians will compete in the Europa League.
On the other hand, fourth-placed Sirens, in their first
season in the top-flight, take the final spot in the Europa League as the place
reserved for Cup winners will not be assigned.
In the women’s division, Birkirkara will compete in the
Champions League while Luxol will take part in the UEFA Futsal Cup.
The other verdicts in the other the divisions in the MFA
competitions will be decided in a Council meeting yet to be scheduled and the
association president along with the three vice-presidents and treasurers have
decided to abstain from voting to let the MFA members reach their decisions in
the most democratic way.
Vassallo said that the governing body will present a number
of scenarios to decide various situations such as championships, relegation and
promotion and he made it clear that each one that will be approved by the
Council members will have to be implemented across all competitions.
Now that the 2019-20 season has been terminated, it is
logical that one thinks on what will happen in the next campaign which is
scheduled to get under way later than usual, on October 15.
Vassallo said that although he cannot give any guarantees on
whether football will restart on the pre-planned date, the association can at
least try and prepare itself to this new reality so hopefully we can get back
to some sort of ‘normality’.
“At the moment, we are heading into unchartered territory
and we have no guarantees on what is going to happen,” the MFA chief said.
“We need to prepare well for the future. The October 16 date
is still a hypothetical date like the fact that national teams are scheduled to
play in September and the UEFA club competitions qualifying rounds will be held
in August.
“Nobody knows what will happen when the countries lift many
of their restrictions and how will be the logistical situation created by the
European competitions.
“In the first three qualifying rounds of the Champions
League and Europa League over 400 teams will have to play home and away and
will not be easy.
“Added to that, next week the Social Dialogue Committee will
discuss the contract obligations football employees have now that the season
was not
extended so there will be a lot to discuss.
“Some are saying that October will be the worse month as
cold temperatures will come in and the flu will start which would prompt a second
wave.
“That would be a huge blow for the country as it would
affect badly the economy of the country and at the same time those who lead our
clubs who are businessman.
“We cannot give any guarantees, but what we can do is that
we use this time to plan well and see other practices of other countries from
which we can learn and come close to this situation so that hopefully we can
get back to normality soon.”
