The Malta Football Players Football Association have called on the Malta Football Association should establish a comprehensive and sustainable medical protocol before the 2020-21 season can get underway.
On Tuesday,
Birkirkara FC vice-president Michael Valenzia said that the Stripes players,
who are currently on quarantine after a first-team player tested positive for COVID-19,
need to return to training by Wednesday or else they would not be able to play
their league opener against Valletta next month.
In a statement, the
Malta Football Players Association said in a statement that without a COVID-19
testing protocol the new season cannot start.
“Without a
comprehensive COVID-19 testing protocol, the start of football competitions in
Malta is at risk,” the MFPA said in a statement.
“Currently, if a
football player tests positive for COVID-19 the whole squad is being
quarantined for 14 days. This means that players who had a three-week pre-season
training, now have to pause for two weeks, and have only two weeks until their
first league game.
“Long interruptions
of pre-season training will not only adversely affect players’ physical
capacity but also puts the integrity of the whole competition into question
since not all teams would have the opportunity to train on an equal playing
field.”
The MFPA also said
that the football authorities must also think about the financial well-being of
those players who do not make a liveable wage from football.
“It’s important to
think about those players who do not make a liveable wage from football, but
must supplement their income with separate employment,” the MFPA said.
“How can they be
absent from their employment for two consecutive weeks, only to return for
training after two weeks with the risk of another player testing positive for
COVID-19? This is not a sustainable system.
“Comprehensive and
sustainable medical protocols, addressing various possible scenarios should
have been established by MFA in line with health authorities, before training
resumed. Unfortunately, this did not happen and we are now forced into a
reactive rather than proactive situation.
“Players need to be
monitored daily for clinical signs and symptoms by the club’s medical staff.
Players must also be tested regularly, with those who test positive put in
quarantine, and others allowed to resume training, but followed up with further
tests.
“Whilst we
understand that this requires considerable resources and testing capacities, we
do not see any other way if we want the league to start.”
