Bjorn Vassallo addressing the media, yesterday. Photo: Domenic AquilinaBjorn Vassallo addressing the media, yesterday. Photo: Domenic Aquilina

As the Malta FA launched ticket sales for next month’s Euro 2016 qualifiers against Norway (October 10) and Italy (October 13), general secretary Bjorn Vassallo insisted that the association remained fully committed to raising the level of the local game across the board.

The national team is very much at the heart of the MFA’s work and, although positive results have been somewhat rare over the past 12 months, the encouraging performances in the opening Euro 2016 Group H match against Croatia (0-2) and the preceding warm-up against Slovakia (0-1) bode well for the future.

“Although the MFA is open to criticism, sometimes the negative comments are not justified,” Vassallo told reporters yesterday.

“We need to keep strengthening the sense of patriotism for all things Maltese.

“Critics have compared us to Iceland who reached the World Cup play-offs but their football project started 20 years ago whereas we only launched ours in 2012.

“They mentioned Cyprus and their 2-1 away win against Bosnia but last year, Malta also gained a 1-0 win away to Armenia.

“Cyprus have a professional league but we are still amateurs. Our target is that the top six to eight clubs in the Premier League switch from part- to full-time.

“The MFA is fully committed to achieving this and we are working hard to push through a number of reforms but these issues have never been tackled in the last two decades or so.”

Vassallo declared that the MFA was satisfied with the national team’s showings in the last 10 days.

“We were coming from a disappointing defeat in a friendly against Gibraltar,” Vassallo said.

“However, that match was useful as it served a stepping stone for the U-21 players to integrate into the senior squad.

“Some of them even played in the last two games and left a good impression.

“This reflects positively on the work of the U-21 side in the last few years as Rowen Muscat, Zach Muscat, Bjorn Kristensen, Ryan Scicluna, Jean Paul Farrugia, Terence Vella and Steve Pisani are now part of the senior squad.”

Vassallo also singled out national coach Pietro Ghedin for praise, saying his work and tactical nous were evident in the team’s recent displays.

Ghedin’s proposal

In an interview published in Score, the Times of Malta’s annual fixtures magazine, Ghedin had expressed hope that the club coaches would heed his call to hold one weekly training session for the national team players.

Asked about Ghedin’s proposal, Vassallo said that was not possible during the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign as the MFA had an agreement with the clubs but added that the association will take stock of the situation at the end of the competition.

Norman Saliba, the MFA marketing manager, said the response for the second Goal Card issue had been positive.

He explained that the MFA altered their marketing approach for Malta’s qualifiers with more emphasis laid on digital media and social network sites.

The Norwegian FA have already sold 1,300 tickets for their October 10 qualifier at Ta’ Qali, leading to a request for another 200 tickets.

Seats in the West Stand (Enclosure) are numbered but a free-seating policy will be adopted in the Millennium, North and South stands.

Tickets can be purchased from the MFA offices, Eros Stationers (Paceville), KSU Office, Lion King Stationery (Guardamanġia), Matrix outlets, TeamSport (Iklin), Star Tourist Services (Buġibba), the GFA offices and online from www.mfa.com.mt.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.