Attendance for domestic matches up by almost 38,000

Season 2007-08 generated more interest among local football fans than its predecessor as attendance figures released by the Malta FA during yesterday's annual general meeting show an increase of almost 38,000 spectators.

The overall attendance for domestic matches last season was 164,250, 37,817 more than the previous term.

More fans ventured to local stadia to watch matches from the BOV Premier League, won by Valletta FC after a lapse of seven years. Top-flight matches attracted a total of 67,423 paying spectators last season, an upsurge of 19,450 compared to 2006-07. Attendance figures for the BOV Division One and Two matches also went up but the positive trend did not extend to the Division Three league where crowds throughout last season fell by 1,551.

The U*Bet FA Trophy matches were watched by a total of 19,892 fans, a rise of 8,363 from the previous season.

As is customary, the Malta FA presented its financial report for the year ending May 31, 2008, during yesterday's well-attended AGM.

The association's surplus of income over expenditure plummeted from €630,156 in 2006-07 to €298,840 last season.

Vincent Curmi, the Malta FA's accountant, explained that the drop in the association's cash flow was mainly caused by unrealised loss on the exchange rate of the Swiss franc and the American dollar.

FIFA and UEFA subsidies and refunds totalled €1,465,769, an increase of €238,930 from the previous season. Proceeds from general sponsorships climbed from €53,657 in 2006-07 to €74,640.

The expenditure column shows that the Malta FA paid €204,329 in salaries and €71,225 in allowances to its officials. Bank loan interest and charges accounted for €275,066 of the MFA administration's costs but the local governing body of football still ended the year with a healthy profit of €682,570.

There was also a rise of over €46,000 in the Malta FA's revenue from the share of gates for domestic matches as the association declared a profit of €142,401. However, when the depreciation of the sports facilities is taken into account, the MFA registered a loss of €431,153 in this sector.

Although the Malta FA's annual outlay in relation to national teams, youth and grassroots development grew by almost €160,000 from the previous year, the association still managed to up its profit in this field, thanks mainly to better income from international matches which amounted to €1,253,408.

Whereas in 2006-07 the account for national teams, youth development and grassroots developments showed a closing deficit of €11,955, the MFA finished last season €109,562 to the good.

A financial setback for the Malta FA stemmed from the bankruptcy of the company that had a contract with the association for the staging of music concerts at the National Stadium for the next five years.

Doping dispute

The administrative report also confirmed that the Malta FA has suspended its doping programme in response to FIFA's decision to challenge the sanctions the local association handed to three players who were found guilty of doping offences.

The world governing body of football lodged an appeal with the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration of Sport as it felt that the MFA ought to have imposed two-year bans on Claude Mattocks, Gilbert Martin and Ryan Grech.

The MFA annual general meeting also approved three amendments to the association's statute yesterday.

A proposal by the District Football league to have two representatives on the council instead of one, was accepted by the assembly. The amendment put forward by the Gozo FA to have one representative elected to the Executive Committee from among the council members, was also approved.

Dr Joe Mifsud, the MFA president, also announced that Malta's U-21 team will play a home friendly match against Liechtenstein on August 19.

The U-21s were scheduled to meet Georgia in the August warm-up but the latter pulled out as most of their players are currently doing their military service.