MIA team hit by injuries, engine trouble at airport football tournament

Despite being plagued by a series of injuries, the team representing the Malta International Airport put on a good show at the 13th European Airports Championship in Erding, Munich last weekend.

The championship is organised once every two years and teams from several airports take part. Malta twice managed to reach the final stage but this time round, luck was not on their side.

At least three of the team's players were injured, two of them during the last training session before leaving Malta for Munich. And during the team's second match of the tournament, MIA Team's main defender was stretchered off the pitch and hospitalised with a serious knee injury.

The team's adventure started off with a five-hour delay in Malta due to engine trouble, forcing the team to miss its planned training session on Thursday afternoon at the football ground where they were due to play their matches.

The first match against Cork Airport ended in a goalless draw, followed by a 1-0 defeat to a superior Moscow Airport team. The third match of the first day of the tournament was motivating for the Malta team which beat the Hanover Airport team by two goals to nil. The fourth and final match ended in another goalless draw, this time with Southampton Airport. The matches lasted 20 minutes each half.

The MIA team's players comprise members of the fire section, the immigration section and the air traffic control section, among others.

The team did not manage to get through to the second round of the tournament due to a one-goal difference in the group's goal average. Sheremetyevo Moscow airport and Southampton proceeded to the next round.

The MIA team, however, continued to play in the Shield Cup. They beat Birmingham Airport 5-4 on penalties but the next match against Shannon Airport ended with a 4-3 defeat, thus eliminating them from the Shield Cup too.

"Given the circumstances, with the injuries to some of our key players, I am satisfied with the overall performance of the team. Luck was not on our side either, and it was disappointing to be eliminated on goal difference. However, credit is due to all the players as they gave their very best and worked as a team," the team's coach, Simon Sultana, told The Times.

MIA's chief executive officer Julian Juncker, who was also in Munich to follow the team, said the company believed in focusing on the social, cultural and environmental aspects in Malta. An event such as the football tournament was beneficial in order to keep workers' motivational level as high as possible, while at the same time promoting sports.

The team, bringing together as it did several employees who work at the airport and not just MIA employees, strengthened cooperation among the service providers at the airport, he said.

Commenting on the next championship which will be held in 2010 in London, Mr Juncker said MIA is committed to back any players who want to represent Malta and the MIA at the tournament.