Maltese officials to control N. Ireland Premiership match
Irish refs for Maltese league
As part of an agreement reached a couple of months ago between the Referees’ Departments of the Malta FA and the Northern Ireland FA, this weekend will see the first of an exchange programme of referees in control of domestic top-level games in the two countries.
Today, Elite Referee Kevin Azzopardi together with FIFA Assistant Referee Christopher Francalanza, Elite Assistant Referee Mitchell Scerri, and Elite Referee Andre Arciola, as fourth official, will be in Dungannon’s Stangmore Park, Northern Ireland, to take charge of the Premiership match between Dungannon Swifts FC and Donegal Celtic FC, which kicks off at 4 p.m.
On Monday, all four MFA officials will attend a monthly training meeting with Irish referees of the top category.
On the other hand, referees from the Northern Ireland FA will be coming over to Malta to control two BOV Premier League matches,Tarxien Rainbows vs Marsaxlokk and Mosta vs Hibernians, to be played tomorrow and Monday, respectively.
In a statement, the MFA said the exchange programme will un-doubtedly be an experience for both sets of refereeing teams, which will serve them well personally and professionally when con-trolling international matches.
The agreement was reached with the personal intervention of Malta FA president Norman Darmanin Demajo.
UEFA’s advice was also sought in this venture after which discussions were initiated involving Director of Refereeing Adrian Casha and Charles Agius, chair-man of the Referees Committee, and the head of Irish referees, Alan Snoddy, one of UEFA’s experts regarding the implementation of its policies for the organisation of referees’ departments.
The agreement also takes into consideration other aspects.
As a matter of fact, Snoddy was here in August as one of the keynote speakers during the annual pre-season seminar for Elite Match Officials and Category One Referees.
It is envisaged that in the near future more initiatives, such as training camps abroad, will be organised.