Malta coach Pietro Ghedin has reluctantly dropped all the Valletta players from his squad for Wednesday’s friendly against Albania after they failed to attend the first two training sessions on the instructions of club coach Andre Paus.

With six Valletta players named in the provisional squad, Ghedin had been widely expected to retain most of them in his final list but his plans were thrown into disarray when the Premier League club informed the Malta FA last week that they were not prepared to release their players for international duty before Saturday (yesterday).

Under the verbal agreement reached between the Malta FA and clubs during talks that eventually led to the national team training scheme being shelved back in November, the players called up to the Malta squad were to report for international duty around eight days before an international date.

The players had been summoned to report for training with Ghedin on Thursday but those of Valletta only turned up yesterday, skipping the first two sessions as Paus stuck to his guns.

Valletta’s stance irked the Malta FA and Ghedin who left it until after training yesterday evening to select his 20-man squad ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Tirana.

Ghedin said the decision to leave out the Valletta players was made with a heavy heart, insisting it was a technical choice based on their absence from training on Thursday and Friday.

“I’ve made my technical choices,” a visibly distraught Ghedin told The Sunday Times of Malta.

“I’m very sorry for the (dropped) players because they’ve given me their heart. I have faith in them.

“I love clarity in life. This is a technical decision owing to the fact that they failed to adhere to the training programme of the national team.

“They (Valletta players) missed training on Thursday and Friday. It was a very difficult decision but I also had to be fair with the others.

“We’ve also had to call up other players to fill the void left by the absent ones.”

Steve Borg, who had hoped to make his international comeback after a lengthy lay-off, Jonathan Caruana, Roderick Briffa, Shaun Bajada, Ryan Fenech and Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza are the six City players who have been left out of Ghedin’s squad for Wednesday’s friendly.

Valletta goalkeeper Yenz Cini and striker Luke Montebello have also been omitted from the Malta U-21 squad for Wednesday’s qualifier against Sweden at the National Stadium.

Ghedin has promoted Hibs midfielder Bjorn Kristensen and Birkirkara defender Zach Muscat from the U-21 squad while Qormi winger Leighton Grech received a late call-up yesterday.

Kristensen will therefore miss the Malta U-21s’ encounter with Sweden but Muscat was suspended for that game.

The three newcomers in Ghedin’s party have never been capped at senior level.

Manny Muscat, who plays for A-League club Wellington Phoenix, is in line to make his first appearance for Malta in more than two years after being confirmed in Ghedin’s final squad. Muscat and the other foreign-based players, Kalloni goalkeeper Andrew Hogg, defender Andrei Agius, now on the books of Aprilia, captain Michael Mifsud, of Melbourne Heart, and AC Omonia forward André Schembri, will join up with their international team-mates in Tirana.

Rowen Muscat, the Birkirkara midfielder, is out of the equation after undergoing surgery to cure a knee problem.

Although Ghedin refrained from mentioning names, he was clearly aggrieved by the way Valletta tackled this issue.

“I always say that in life, respect is very important,” the Italian said.

“I treat everyone with respect but it has to be reciprocal... that’s my principle.

“This situation (Valletta issue) has created some problems for me. The MFA, with my backing, had a gentleman’s agreement with the clubs but they didn’t respect it.

“All the good things we’ve done to help the clubs and local football have not been respected. I need to get to the bottom of this story and gather all the details because no-one has told me anything.”

Asked if he had discussed the issue with Paus, Ghedin replied: “I haven’t spoken to anyone.

“I only received a terse email. I believe that these things should be discussed and clarified face to face.

“I feel very sorry for the players because they have found themselves in the middle of this dilemma.

“They’re not to blame and I understand their position but I couldn’t do otherwise.

“It’s important to act in a coherent way.”

Malta FA president backs Ghedin’s stance

Norman Darmanin Demajo, the Malta FA president, pledged his full support for Ghedin’s decisions.

“I’m 100 per cent behind Pietro Ghedin’s decision not to pick those players who didn’t attend all the training sessions with the national team,” Darmanin Demajo said.

The MFA president made no attempt to conceal his disappointment at the decision of the Valletta coach not to send his players for training with the national squad on Thursday and Friday.

“It was very disappointing,” Darmanin Demajo said.

“We had an agreement with the clubs to allow the players to train all week with their coaches except for a couple of days before an international game.

“There was one club that chose not to honour this agreement.

“I can’t force them to send the players but everyone must take responsibility for their decisions.”

Malta squad

Goalkeepers: J. Haber (Birkirkara); A. Hogg (Kalloni).

Defenders: A. Agius (Aprilia); S. Bezzina (Balzan); R. Camilleri (Hibs); A. Muscat (Sliema Wanderers); M. Muscat (Wellington Phoenix); J. Zerafa, Z. Muscat (both Birkirkara).

Midfielders: A. Cohen, B. Kristensen, C. Failla (all Hibs); P. Fenech, E. Herrera, G. Sciberras (all Birkirkara); J. Mintoff (Sliema Wanderers); L. Grech (Qormi).

Forwards: M. Mifsud (Melbourne Heart); A. Schembri (AC Omonia); T. Vella (Birkirkara).