Marsaxlokk FC will not be impeded from competing in the UEFA club competitions by the European governing body of football this summer should they qualify to play in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers.
The southerners have assured themselves of finishing in fourth place in the Premier League this season and could be one of Malta’s representatives in the UEFA Conference League should Floriana or Sliema Wanderers win the FA Trophy this month.
In the past few weeks, there has been a lot of speculation on whether Marsaxlokk will be given the green light by UEFA to compete in this summer’s club competitions due to their involvement in a match-fixing case 15 years ago.
It was on September 2009 when Marsaxlokk were demoted to the Division One when a former club official was found guilty of breaching MFA regulations on match-fixing when trying to bribe an opposing player to throw a match.
Rumours were rife in the past weeks, that UEFA were likely to banish the southerners from competing in this summer’s competition, as in the past years, the European governing body handed a one-year ban to clubs who were involved in match-fixing cases from 2007 until today.
Ħamrun Spartans suffered this fate in 2021 when they were barred from competing in the Champions League that summer due to their involvement in a match-fixing case in 2013.
However, a change in regulations made by UEFA this year has boosted Marsaxlokk’s hopes of being able to play in Europe should they qualify.
In fact, the latest UEFA regulations state: “To be eligible to participate in the competition, clubs must not have been directly and/or indirectly involved at any time since 1 May 2014 (i.e. ten years before the entry into force of this regulations) in activity aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of a match at national or international level and confirm this to the UEFA administration in writing.”
Thus, should Marsaxlokk earn a place in the UEFA Conference League they should not find any problem representing Malta in this UEFA competition.
Last month, Marsaxlokk president Frankie Cachia confirmed on a TV programme that Marsaxlokk will not be barred from competing in UEFA club competitions but had stopped short of giving details on the circumstances that will let them take part.
