Last week, the Malta Football Association became a signatory to the UEFA Referees Convention, almost three years to the day that this project was launched. This is a big step forward as it ensures a continual enhancement of the referees' role.
Membership of the Convention also has its obligations.
One of these is that the structures of the referees body has to be improved and this must be an ongoing matter. The help given by UEFA under the Convention will ensure greater technological equipment to be used in the education of referees.
This does not mean that they must go back to school, but the discussion on matters pertaining to the Laws of the Game, the showing of film clips about particular incidents, the following of instructions given and the like will certainly help to make a better referee.
The Convention helps in this way because the modernisation of equipment used and the actual restructuring of the Referees Department on more modern lines will go a long way to ensuring a bright future for local officials.
The MFA Referees Board is not starting from scratch though as the use of the communications system by officials in Premier League matches and the holding of seminars with top class lecturers was already a good start.
UEFA have seen that the MFA is a serious and determined organisation that wants its referees and assistants to achieve top class status at all levels. The Convention is not just for the Premier class referees but for every single member.
The Convention does not only speak about the actual referees and assistants but also those officials connected to refereeing such as match inspectors, liaison officers and the referees administration.
The recruitment of more officials will always be a priority for the Referees Board and this will also be taken in hand with more vigour.
The Convention also precludes outside interference in the referees organisation.
The signing of the Convention by MFA president Joe Mifsud last week was another feather in his cap.
Yet, the cherry on the cake was his unanimous election as UEFA vice-president for the next two years.