Rinus Dahles, of Marsascala, writes:

I refer to the letter of Joseph A. Sacco of Gwardamangia (The Times, October 19), where he pointed out that Kris Laferla, the Sliema defender, played a total of 65 matches for Malta.

I congratulate Mr Sacco for the publication of the book 45 Sena ta' Football Internazzjonali ta' Malta which is a welcome contribution to Maltese football.

However, the reason why my records show that Laferla has played 63 times for Malta is that, for statistical purposes, only official matches recognised by FIFA are taken into consideration.

I believe that Mr Sacco came to the 65-match figure by counting the matches played on October 14, 1987 against England B (0-2) and February 13, 1988 against DDR Olympic Team in the Rothmans International Tournament (0-1) as official matches.

My assessment of Laferla's international career excludes those two games because FIFA does not recognise them as official A matches.

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