Sergio Afric has been reconfirmed as national coach for the next two years, the Aquatic Sports Association (ASA) announced last night.

In the past few weeks, the ASA were mulling on the appointment of a national coach after Afric’s contract had expired earlier this year.

Afric and Marco Risso, the current coach at San Ġiljan, were the two candidates for the post but in the end the ASA opted to retain the Croat’s services for another two years. He will be assisted by Karl Izzo.

During his first spell, Afric had guided the national team to a creditable sixth place in the B Championships in Lugano that earned the team qualification to the A championships in Turkey this year.

In Istanbul, Afric’s men faced strong opposition in the shape of Spain, Turkey and Slovakia.

Now Afric’s job will be to prepare the team for the European Championship qualifiers which get underway on October 30.

Governing body LEN has decided to introduce a new format to the qualifying system which will see the introduction of various groups and matches and will be played on a home and away basis.

The new LEN rules stipulate that those qualifying from the group stage will join the top five at the Croatian event, plus the host country, The Netherlands, in the 2012 finals.

Malta team were drawn in Group A along with Poland and the eventual 10th classified team in the Euro Championship.