Maltese football went through a lot during the past three weeks.
The national team stole the headlines after failing to win promotion in the UEFA Nations League, following a two-legged play-off defeat to Luxembourg, which inevitably drew a lot of criticism.
Paris said that a 5-0 aggregate defeat against Luxembourg had left a sour taste and while he accepts the criticism targeted at the Malta FA, he doesn’t feel that all is doom and gloom in the national team set-up.
“Logically, we are very disappointed with the final result, but while in the past there was a sense of helplessness, this time around the feeling is different,” Dr Paris said.
“We were up against a team that is ranked in the top 100 in the world, and while our performance was not good enough in both legs, luck didn’t favour us either, as you can see the number of scoring chances we missed, the loss of Teddy Teuma to injury, and other instances, it could have been different.
“But one has to be objective in his criticism. A team that finished the World Cup qualifying campaign on five points and avoided the bottom spot doesn’t become a very bad team just because it loses this play-off.
“In the UEFA Nations League edition in September, we have never been lucky with the draw, but in the next edition we are up against Andorra and Gibraltar, and this year I demand that we finally get promotion, and there can be no excuses if we fail to reach that goal.”
Dr Paris confirmed that in the next few weeks, the MFA top brass will sit down with the technical staff to analyse their technical project, and he didn’t rule out the possibility of bringing in coaches from outside the Italian game, but they need to be cohesive with the playing system adopted by our national teams.”
The MFA senior vice-president also discussed the impact of the Ta’ Qali regeneration project. He said that initially the plans were to upgrade the national stadium but after further discussion it felt wiser to create a master plan that includes all land owned by the MFA to try and maximise its use.
“The National Stadium has been crying to be renovated for several years now but during this time the MFA focused on improving its club facilities with the result that the facilities at the National Stadium worsened,” he said.
“The North, South, and West stands will all go down, while the Millennium stand will be re-styled so that we can include more commercial facilities. We are looking at today’s needs of Maltese football, and this project will increase the number of pitches available as we are planning to build a new football pitch on the West Stand parking area where youth football matches will be held.
“The Centenary Stadium will also be upgraded to increase its capacity and make it eligible to host international football matches, including games from UEFA club competitions, so that when the National Stadium is renovated, we will have another venue to use.”
Dr Paris said that he is hoping that all the necessary groundwork for the project will be finalised by the end of 2027, and by the start of 2028, work on the project will get underway.
The MFA senior vice-president said that the governing body has all the plans in place to finance the project and confirmed that they have financial assistance from FIFA and UEFA, as well as an agreement with the government to support this project.
Dr Paris said that the MFA is proud of its financial recovery, as according to the latest accounts, it has for the first time recorded a profit of €1.2 million.
“In our last financial year, the MFA recorded a record revenue of €16.8 million and that is coming from financial assistance from UEFA, FIFA, and the government, but also thanks to our commercial plan that is yielding a very positive outcome.”
During the interview, Dr Paris spoke on the importance of the Sports Companies Law that has just been approved in parliament.
The new legislation will give sports clubs in Malta the possibility to operate as sports companies through a dedicated commercial vehicle.
This legal framework is expected to provide clubs with much-needed financial injection and stability, while enabling them to compete on a more level playing field with their foreign counterparts.
“This legislation will give clubs more financial stability and, more importantly, can start operating in a professional set-up, similar to what foreign clubs operate at the moment,” Dr Paris said.
Match-fixing
This week’s news headlines was also dominated by the court sentence that saw defender Jurgen Pisani jailed for 15 months after he was found guilty of match-fixing charges.
A few months ago, Pisani had been freed of similar accusations in front of the MFA Tribunal, but Dr Paris said that while there was a difference in interpretation by the football governing body’s panel and the law courts, he emphasised that the Malta Police Force has more tools and resources than the Malta FA Integrity Office.
Asked whether a jail sentence was too severe, Dr Paris said: “The manipulation of sports events is regulated by a very particular law. This legislation obliges the court to impose a jail sentence on those who are found guilty of match-fixing, and there is no chance of a suspended sentence.
“This law was made to have a deterrent effect on people involved in sport, and if you’re a national team member, the punishments are even bigger.”
Dr Paris also discussed the situation in women’s football and said that the format of the league is set to be on the agenda to try and make the championship more competitive.
“In women’s football, having so many players who are plying their trade abroad, we are struggling for numbers, and I believe that an increase in overseas players could help to help the championship become more competitive,” he said.
“Added to that, we could see an increase in the number of teams as from next year, as clubs that are benefitting from solidarity payments will have to show that they are involved in Maltese football and could have their own teams competing in this league.”
