UEFA, local elections prominent on MFA's 2007 agenda

Elections on a European and domestic level and activities marking 50 years of international football for the Maltese national team, are among the top items on the Malta FA's agenda for 2007.

The 31st Ordinary UEFA Congress, due to take place in the German city of Duesseldorf on January 25 and 26, is likely to have been marked with bold ink on the Malta FA's new calendar and, moreso, in the personal diary of Joe Mifsud, the head of local football's governing body.

The highlight of this congress is the election for UEFA president with former France captain Michel Platini looking to pip Lennart Johansson, the current incumbent, for the top job in European football.

Dr Mifsud is also bracing himself for a potentially tense election during the UEFA Congress. The MFA president is among 13 candidates gunning for one of six seats on the UEFA Executive Committee of which Dr Mifsud has been a member for several years. The six elected members will serve a four-year term from 2007 to 2011.

The MFA's annual general meeting in July is also likely to capture a lot of attention as the association's top officials, namely the president, vice-presidents and treasurer, could face a vote by the members if other candidates decide to run for the top posts in local football.

These important events were mentioned by Dr Mifsud yesterday when he gave a preview of the association's activities in 2007.

The MFA president announced that Austria will have a training camp here before their friendly match against Malta on February 7. At present, Milan are also gearing up for the second part of the season with a series of practice sessions in Malta.

Next month, the MFA will organise a number of activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Malta's official debut in international football. Past and present Malta players will feature prominently in these functions which will culminate in the friendly against Austria, Malta's first official opponents. In that landmark match, played on Feb. 24, 1957 at the Gzira Empire Stadium, Malta lost 3-2.

"2006 was a positive year for the MFA and we hope that 2007 will be on the same lines," Dr Mifsud said yesterday. "That said, we are fully aware that there might be problems which the Malta FA would have to deal with from time to time, as happened in 2006."

The continuation of all the competitions for club teams, youths, women and Futsal makes up a small but significant portion of the Malta FA's agenda for the year which has just started.

The licensing process for clubs is expected to gather pace in the early months of 2007.

Dr Mifsud reminded that Premier League clubs must possess an operating licence to be able to fulfil their commitments in UEFA club competitions, namely the Champions League, UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup.

"Since the introduction of the licensing regulations by UEFA, our clubs have always succeeded in obtaining a licence," Dr Mifsud said.

Refining the regions project launched by the Malta FA last year is also a priority for the association. According to Dr Mifsud, this initiative, whereby a group of MFA-employed coaches work closely with nurseries to better monitor the progress of young players, has been well received so far.

"The feedback from the nurseries has been positive," Dr Mifsud remarked.

"In 2007, we will be looking to strengthen and make the recommended adjustments to this scheme but in the long run, we firmly believe that the regions project will benefit youth football."

Moreover, more UEFA mini-pitches will be installed in various locations around Malta and Gozo. Seven small-sided artificial turf pitches, all sponsored by UEFA, were completed last year.

Local clubs and players will also be glad to learn of the MFA's plan to replace the pitch of the Centenary Stadium with a new FIFA 2-Star artificial turf surface some time this year.

The refereeing sector is another area of utmost importance for the MFA with Dr Mifsud promising that the association will carry on with its recruitment programme besides focusing on the educational aspect of its match officials. To this end, another UEFA 'A' level course will be held in Malta between April and May.

New headquarters

By June this year, the MFA hope to start working from their new headquarters which will be situated inside the Millennium Stand at the National Stadium. The new headquarters will replace the current premises in St Paul's Street, Valletta.

Apart from the annual seminar in June, the MFA will also hold an extraordinary general meeting on February 9 to discuss various amendments to the association's statute.

"Apart from clarifying the powers within the MFA, these amendments are also aimed at bolstering the council's function as a legislative forum rather than a disciplinary body," Dr Mifsud said.

On the instructions of FIFA, the MFA will this year introduce an independent arbitration board.

Switching his focus to the international commitments for the diverse national selections, Dr Mifsud said Malta will make its competitive debut in Futsal competitions later this month. The Maltese team, under the charge of Czech coach Michael Striz, will figure in a Mini-Tournament to be staged at the Hibernians Pavilion between January 18 and 21. The other nations in the group are Cyprus, Georgia and Kazakhstan.

Malta's Euro 2008 Group C qualifying campaign resumes in March with two matches, the first away to Moldova on March 24 and the other at home to European champions Greece four days later.

Meanwhile, representatives of the 10 clubs in the BOV Premier League yesterday received a set of DVD's showing all the matches they have played in the first round.

The DVD's were produced and sponsored by Smash television which has an agreement with the MFA to film and broadcast all BOV Premier League matches.

Andrew Farrugia, from Smash Communications, said: "Our agreement with the MFA has surely strengthened Smash's commitment towards sport, especially football. We now have arrangements in place to extend this service to the other three divisions."