This year’s Winter League, again sponsored by Bank of Valletta, will start on Sunday, February 28 and end on April 24.

The competition will be divided into two separate leagues, six in the Premier and three in the First Division, with the Under-19 national team participating out of competition in both the cham-pionships.

Exiles, title-holders Neptunes, national champions San Ġiljan, Sirens, Sliema and Valletta will contest the top winter honour while Marsascala, Otters and Ta’ Xbiex will form part of the second-tier competition.

The draws brought together three balanced matches on the opening day, with Exiles playing Valletta, Neptunes against Sirens and Sliema facing San Ġiljan.

Five days later, on March 4, the First Division league gets underway with two matches between Marsascala and Ta’ Xbiex followed by that between the Malta Under-19 and Gozitan side Otters.

In the top competition, the teams will play a round robin after which the sides will be split, with the top three going for the title play-offs. In the lower division the teams will play two rounds, with the side finishing first being de-clared winner.

The fixtures were drawn by ASA president Joe Caruana Curran and Anthony Scicluna, BOV chief officer, assisted by ASA general secretary Rita Azzopardi.

In his introduction, Caruana Curran highlighted the pre-season matches over the scheduled eight weeks which incorporate a two-week break between March 23 and April 8 to allow for the Easter period and the related swimming competitions.

At the beginning of his address yesterday, the ASA top official took the opportunity to congratulate the national team players who performed positively in their historical debut in the 16-team European Championships finals, a competition which ended with Malta beating Turkey on penalties for the 15th place.

He then mentioned the junior team after they had qualified for the European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, last year.

Caruana Curran also expressed his congratulations and those of the ASA to Steve Camilleri for his superb achievement when topping the Euro finals scorers’ list.

“This was surely a first for any Maltese athlete in any sport,” Caruana Curran said.

He announced that the association will give due recognition for these achievements in due time.

In his address BOV official Scicluna spoke of the collaboration between the bank and the ASA, stressing that this is a very healthy partnership which is bound to reap more benefits for waterpolo on our shores.

Finally, the ASA said that in agreement with all clubs it reserves the right to move dates as deemed necessary, with the final fixtures list, with dates and times of matches, to be issued very shortly.

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