With the eagerly-awaited Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy only six days away, the level of anticipation is rising by the minute with the Malta FA reporting that bet-ween 75 to 80 per cent of the tickets (around 13,000) for Monday’s match had been snapped up.
This will be the second time in 18 months that Italy, who have huge following in Malta, will be gracing the turf of the National Stadium.
This time, ticket sales took a while to pick up compared to last year but the figures given yesterday by Bjorn Vassallo, the Malta FA general secretary, show that the enthusiasm of local football followers has hardly diminished.
Vassallo said that just under 4,000 tickets are still up for grabs but the Millennium Stand is sold out, the areas reserved for corporate guests are also full and only a few hundred tickets are still available for the South Stand.
Although much of the focus is on Monday’s clash against the Azzurri, Malta meet Norway on Friday in their second Euro 2016 Group H qualifier after launching their campaign with a 2-0 defeat away to Croatia last month.
According to Vassallo, between 55 to 60 per cent of the tickets for the Norway game have also been sold or distributed to local football nurseries and other charity organisations under the MFA’s Football Social Responsibility Programme.
Around 1,400 Norwegian fans will be flying out to Malta to watch Friday’s encounter which kicks off at 8.45pm.
“Italy and Norway are both teams of a certain stature,” Vassallo told a news conference.
“Norway are not the force they were in the nineties but they are still a valid team.”
Conte motivation
Even though they had a disappointing World Cup, Italy remain one of the strongest and most attractive teams in world football, Vassallo added.
“The appointment of Antonio Conte as the new coach has clearly given Italy fresh motivation and we saw this in their opening qualifier against Norway (Italy won 2-0),” he said.
“As far as our national team is concerned, our priority is to earn the respect of our opponents.
“We all know that our players will be playing against the cream of football.
“That said, we have faith in our players and technical staff. Our latest performances show that this squad is gelling further and the progress of the U-21 players who now form part of the senior group underline the good work carried out in the last few years.”
Vassallo talked up the importance of laying solid foundations for the future as, come 2018, Malta will be competing in the Nations League against countries who are classified just above us in the UEFA rankings as well as fellow minnows who are in the same pot as our national team in the draws for major tournaments.
While appealing to Maltese football enthusiasts to support the national team, Vassallo declared himself pleased with the ticket sales, especially for the Italy encounter.
Responding to criticism about the match dates and kick-off times, Vassallo said: “I have come across comments that the Malta-Italy game ought to have been played on Sunday instead and that the 8.45pm kick-off is not ideal but we have no control over these matters. Match dates and kick-off times are determined by UEFA.”
Inevitably, Friday’s game will revive the spectre of the match-fixing scandal surrounding the Euro 2008 qualifying match between Norway and Malta.
That case tarnished the image of Maltese football as it was alleged that the game in Oslo, which ended 4-0 in favour of Norway, was rigged after a member of a betting ring bribed some players from our national team.
This eventually led UEFA to ban former Malta midfielder Kevin Sammut for life only for the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reduce the punishment to 10 years.
While stressing that the Norway-Malta case is now closed, Vassallo added that the Malta FA have a very good relationship with the Norwegian Football Association whose top officials are expected to be present for Friday’s game.
The same goes for the Italian football federation (FIGC) whose contingent for the Malta game will be led by newly-elected president Carlo Tavecchio.
Vassallo said that former top FIGC officials are also expected to attend the Malta-Norway qualifier at Ta’ Qali.
Norman Saliba, the Malta FA head of marketing, said that a number of ticket booths at the National Stadium will be open on matchdays.
He reminded that, while the seats in the West Stand (Enclosure) are numbered, there are no seating arrangements in place for the Millennium Stand, North Stand and South Stand.
The fan zone, located in the grounds of the MFCC and sponsored by Cisk, will open at 5pm.