Security first for MFA as venue procedure will not be applied

The Malta FA decision last week that crowd-pulling teams in the Premier League will play all their Championship Pool matches at the National Stadium will badly hit champions Sliema Wanderers.

The second stage of the season gets underway next weekend. Sliema, whose popularity in the modern era compares badly with the days when Blues fans filled the old Gzira stadium to its rafters, play their first match on Sunday against Floriana at the Hibs Ground. Their next fixture, against Marsaxlokk, is also scheduled for Corradino, on Sunday, February 27.

Attendances have dwindled drastically in the past few years in Malta and Sliema were not the only ones to suffer a dip in this regard.

However, Valletta and Birkirkara, the best supported teams these days, are now guaranteed to play at Ta' Qali for the rest of the season. Some may consider this to work in their favour as both rivals are chasing the Wanderers in the standings.

There are coaches who argue that it is more difficult to unlock defences at the Hibs Ground than the National Stadium. And in case of bad weather, Sliema could end up playing at the much-maligned Centenary Stadium if the groundsman at Corradino decides to postpone the match.

The Premier League format will be changed next season so the problem will cease to exist in future. But since the Championship and Relegation Pools were introduced in 1999 the same procedure was applied as regards the top team at the end of the first phase.

The leaders at the half-way stage enjoyed the right to play at the National Stadium. The others had some of their matches at the Hibs Ground or the Tedesco Stadium.

One of the topics on the executive committee agenda on Friday was safety precautions at the stadiums with attendances likely to show a slight increase as the competition intensifies.

After a prolonged discussion it was decided that for security reasons teams with a reputation of attracting bigger numbers to the stands will play at Ta' Qali.

It was also decided that the Tedesco Stadium will not be used for the second stage of the championship, probably after most of the teams had lamented of the bad state of the pitch at the ground in Hamrun.

Malta FA general secretary Joe Gauci yesterday told The Times that last season there were some minor changes in the scheduling of venues during the second stage of the league trek. With Valletta playing in the Relegation Pool the problem was not as complex as it is this year.

"It's true, the procedure was not followed on a couple of occasions last season but we had to seek the spectators' safety first," he said.

"This will be the case again this time round. We've settled the first two programmes and still have to arrange the venues for the third and fourth days of the second stage. The last round should be no problem though because all teams will play at the National Stadium."

Sliema coach Edward Aquilina said it was unjust on his team to play away from Ta' Qali after completing the first phase of the campaign on top of the standings.

"This decision was very unfair on us," he said. "We would have preferred to play all our second stage matches at Ta' Qali as happened last season.

"Sliema played at the Hibs Ground before and we can't complain about the conditions. However, if any of our next two matches are postponed because of bad weather does that mean we shall have to play at the Centenary Stadium in midweek?

"That's where the other teams are at an advantage following the executive committee's decision. I'm not against security measures but all this could have been avoided had an extra Friday match been added to the weekend programme."

Sliema have good reason to worry if they are made to play on artificial turf.

Aquilina hardly got the chance to field his best formation this season due to an injury jinx which hit key players in his squad. Some of them sustained long-term injuries while playing at the Centenary Stadium.