Sliema and San Ġiljan, two of the strongest local teams, have featured prominently as the BOV championship and preliminary knock-out draws were made yesterday.
Last season’s league runners-up Sliema and third-placed San Ġiljan will play each other in the preliminary tie of the BOV knockout while the two teams will clash on June 8 in their first Premier Division outing of the new season.
The opening match on July 7 will be between champions Neptunes and Exiles.
The draws were made during a news conference by Anthony Scicluna, chief officer group internal audit, Bank of Valletta, who was assisted by ASA president Joe Caruana Curran.
“This is the fifth year BOV are sponsoring the ASA competitions and following the recent results achieved by the national team in Denmark, we are confident that, with the bank’s support, the level of the game at national and international level will improve further,” the BOV official said.
Caruana Curran stressed the importance of sponsorship in the process of upgrading waterpolo.
While expressing his association’s gratitude to the bank for its support he said he was “sure that the relationship between BOV and the ASA will not only continue in years to come but will be strengthened”.
The ASA head referred to this year’s revamp of the format of the league competition, saying that the association is always open to change and experiments for the benefit of the game and according to the wishes of the clubs, whom he thanked for their constant co-operation.
The summer league will be made up of 10 teams in two divisions, the Premier and the First Division.
Exiles, Neptunes, San Ġiljan, Sirens and Sliema will form the top division while the lower category will also comprise five teams, Marsascala, Marsaxlokk, Otters, Valletta and Ta’ Xbiex.
There will be three rounds with matches to be played during the week and at weekends.
The first will be between first division teams and the second from the top-tier division. The matches are scheduled to start at 6pm during the week and 5pm at weekends.
The knock-out semi-finals are due to be held on July 19, with the finals programmed for August 20.
The league season will come to an end on August 31, while our senior and junior representative teams will be engaged in the second Euro Championship Qualification Tournament, from July 11 to 14, and the U-17 Comen Cup from July 4-7 respectively.
Opening Programme
June 7: Division One – Marsaxlokk vs Valletta. Premier Division – Exiles vs Neptunes.
June 8: Division One – Marsascala vs Ta’ Xbiex. Premier Division – Sliema vs San Ġiljan.
Bov Winter League
Playing today: 6.45pm Marsa-xlokk vs San Ġiljan; 8pm ASA U-17 vs Exiles.
Tomorrow: 3.45pm Neptunes vs Valletta; 5pm Sliema vs Sirens.