New Premier League format explained

The Malta Premier League on Wednesday presented the new format of the top-flight championship during a news conference. Details were given by chairman Joseph Muscat and is set to come into life from the 2024-25 season. The following are the main points…

■ The 2024-25 Premier League will see the participation of 12 teams who will contest. The championship will be played over two rounds – the Opening and Closing.

■ The Opening Round will see all teams face each other on a round-robin format. After the opening 11 Matchdays, the championship will be split into two sections.

■ The top six will face each other to decide the top positions. On the other hand the bottom six will also face each other to decide who will be relegated.

■ All points will be wiped out at the start of the Closing Round which will adopt the same format.

■ If the top team in the Opening and Closing rounds is the same they will be declared as champions and will play in the Champions League.

■ If the top two positions in both Rounds are occupied by the same two teams a play-off final will be played. Added to that a play-off between the third-placed and fourth-placed team will be held to decide the other team to compete in the Conference League.

■ If two different teams place second, they will both qualify for the Conference League. If the same team places as runner-up in both rounds, a play-off between the third-placed teams decides the other European spot.

■ If four different teams place in the top two positions during both rounds the Final Four will be played.
Points collected throughout the season will be taken into consideration for the two semi-finals where the best-ranked team will face the team ranked fourth in one semi-final and the teams ranked second and third will face each other in the other semi-finals.

The winners reach the final and the team emerging as winner would be declared champion and represent Malta in the UEFA Champions League.

A play-off between losing semi-finalists will determine third place.

■ If three teams place in the top two places, the third best-placed team, based on the season aggregate, will qualify for the final four.

RELEGATION

■ If the same two teams finish in the bottom two places in both rounds, they are relegated.

■ If three teams finish in the bottom two places, the one that finishes twice in the last two places is relegated while the other two teams will feature in a play-off.

■ If four different teams place in the last two positions during both rounds, play-offs will be required to decide relegation. Their total number of points obtained throughout the season will be taken into consideration and the best-ranked will face the worst-ranked in one decider and those ranked second and third will face each other in another decider.

The losers of the two play-offs will be relegated.