Upbeat champs energised by Hexis deal

Valletta have an added incentive to go far in the Champions League this season after securing a sponsorship deal with a French firm that pro-duces energy drink Hexis.

Victor Sciriha, the Valletta pre-sident, told reporters yesterday that Hexis, represented in Malta by Strand Palace Agencies, have agreed to sponsor the club on a game-by-game basis in this season’s UEFA competitions.

“Hexis will be sponsoring us in every game we play in the Cham-pions League,” Sciriha said.

“Having a French company backing a Maltese team is also a novelty for our game. I believe we’ve already started to repay Hexis’s confidence after the team’s excellent display against Tre Fiori away earlier this week.”

While pledging his full support for the local agents to promote Hexis in the market, Sciriha added: “In the coming weeks, I will be sitting down with Steve Calleja (of Strand Palace Agencies) to discuss an extension of this sponsorship.

“There are other companies who have expressed an interest in spon-soring Valletta.”

Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over SP Tre Fiori makes Valletta favourites to advance to a second qualifying round match against Lithuanian side Ekranas.

“I’m sure that the ground will be full for the second leg on Wednesday,” Sciriha said.

“We are in a strong position to progress to a second qualifying round match against Ekranas. They are a tough team but if we keep our feet on the ground, we can eliminate this team as well.

“Our intention is to keep streng-thening the squad and we are in talks to sign a new player who would give the team something extra ahead of the second qualifying round match.”

While confirming that the player Valletta are keen to sign is Maltese, Sciriha refrained from divulging the name but it’s no secret that Malta captain Michael Mifsud has been his top target for some time.

For the Tre Fiori second leg, Valletta coach Jesmond Zerafa will be able to rely on Ousseni Zongo after his international clearance arrived yesterday.

Paul Spiteri, the club vice-presi-dent, said tickets (costing €10) for the match at the Hibs Stadium may be purchased from L-Amerikan as from today.

“We want to make progress in the Champions League,” Sciriha said.

“We’re administering the club professionally so I believe we can now achieve our objectives.”

Valletta recruited three foreigners in the close season, Zongo, William Barbosa, a Brazilian striker who has an Italian passport, and Nigerian forward Alfred Effiong who scored on his debut on Tuesday.

Although Sciriha appears to be focusing all his efforts on luring Mifsud, he doesn’t rule out further signings.

“We have until the end of August to bring in new players,” Sciriha remarked.

“As I said, we are always looking at ways to bolster our squad and if a foreign player of a high level becomes available, we would be interested in signing him.”

Valletta’s priorities are not restricted to the fine-tuning of their squad as the club have also been awarded land in Ħal-Farruġ to build their own stadium.

Sciriha said the relevant docu-ments have been signed by club officials and representatives of Kunsill Malti għall-iSport. He added that parliament is due to discuss the lease of land to Valletta before the summer recess.

“The plans are in place,” Sciriha said.

“Once we get the approval, we will submit our applications at MEPA. Our priority is to start with the basic amenities first, the pitch and dressing rooms.”