Malta FA announce profit and revenue increase

The Malta FA posted an operating profit of over €1.1 million last season but the association’s shift towards a more professional approach also meant that its operating costs rose by €787,000.

Antoine Portelli, the Malta FA treasurer, gave an explanation of the association’s financial performance for the year ending May 31, 2012 during the annual general meeting.

The association’s annual revenue increased by €1.43 million compared to the previous year. In explaining the salient variances on the figures, Portelli, an accountant by profession, told the assembly that the expenditure hike stemmed from a string of projects undertaken by the Malta FA in the past year, particularly those concerning the Technical Centre, the IT department and the referees’ sector.

“You can’t embark on new projects and boost your organisation without having the people to back your efforts,” Portelli said.

The MFA balance sheet showed an excess of expenditure over income of €4.42 million.

“This results from the investment the association made in the clubs this year,” Portelli said.

“This investment can’t be capitalised as occurs in normal business for the simple reason that the ownership of the land upon which the investment is made belongs to the clubs and not the MFA.

“In our case, a choice to invest meant transferring our net worth to the clubs and this obviously had an effect on our balance sheet.

“We are proud of this because after all, it represents our promise and mission.”

The MFA treasurer announced that the current administration invested nearly €10 million to help clubs improve their facilities in the last two years. Besides, the clubs received €1.2 million in direct or indirect income during the last financial year.

Portelli maintained that, although this hefty investment necessitated an increase in bank borrowings, he’s confident that the MFA finances are very strong and, to back his argument, presented a forecast of the association’s financial performance until 2016.

“This forecast was reviewed and agreed upon by our auditor,” Portelli said. “I’m sure that we do have the ability to service and repay our loans on the stipulated dates.”

Portelli insisted that the MFA is not a profit-making organisation not only on paper but also in reality.

“We have always stated that it makes no sense to have a very rich association with millions in the bank while our clubs are struggling to survive,” Portelli said before reminding the clubs of their responsibility to balance their books, also in light of the introduction of the Financial Fair Play regulations.

The financial report, which was unanimously approved, also showed that John Buttigieg, the ex-national coach, and his assistant Carmel Busuttil received €110,000 in compensation after their contracts were terminated prematurely by the MFA in October last year.

Attendances

The upward trend in attendances has been maintained with the BOV Premier League luring more fans, equivalent to 11 per cent, compared to the previous year. The most notable increase was recorded in the Division One where the attendance figures for season 2011/12 rose by 151 per cent.

While the spectators for Division Two matches rose by 50 per cent, the Division Three attendances dropped by 52 per cent.

The BOV Super Cup match between Valletta and Floriana saw an increase of 61 per cent in the number of spectators while those for the pre-season Euro Cup rose by 114 per cent.

The total of paying spectators last season 2011/12 was 155,721 compared to 141,194 in 2010/11 and 139,133 in 2009/10.

The net income from the gatemoney in all competitions organised by the Malta FA totalled €710,712, a 13.4 per cent increase on the previous season.

Election

In the only election held during yesterday’s AGM, Michael Cutajar and Charles J. Scerri secured the two posts on the Executive Committee reserved for representatives of member clubs in general.

Cutajar polled 74 votes and Scerri 65.

Raymond Micallef received 36 votes and was not elected.