Frank Temile’s participation in Birkirkara’s Europa League matches against Bosnian side NK Siroki Brijeg is in jeopardy as visa issues have delayed his return to Malta.

Temile, who signed a new two-year deal with Birkirkara at the end of last season, had been expected to report for training earlier this month but complications surrounding his application for a visa have left him stranded in Nigeria.

With the Europa League first qualifying round, first leg, against Siroki just over a week away, there are serious doubts over whether Temile will play a part in this game for the Stripes.

Contacted by Times of Malta, Henry Ekezie, Temile’s representative, confirmed that his player has been unable to travel back to Malta due to visa problems.

Sergio Soldano’s tenure as Malta Under-17 coach appears to have come to an end. The MFA have reportedly informed Soldano that his contract, which was due to expire this month, will not be renewed.

The Argentine-born coach has been working in the MFA youth sector for the past five years and was in charge of the national Under-17 team that took part in the final tournament of 2014 UEFA Championship which was played here.

Accommodation problem

Valletta’s travel plans for the return leg of their Champions League first qualifying round game against B36 Torsahvn have been further complicated by accommodation problems but the situation took a turn for the better yesterday.

The Maltese champions’ initial efforts to find a suitable hotel in the Faroe Islands for the second leg on July 5 returned negative results as all the hotels were fully booked.

Faced with such scenario, Alex Fenech, the vice-president of Valletta FC, raised the issue with UEFA in the hope of finding a solution but it transpires that further enquiries yesterday evening yielded better results as the club found a limited number of available hotel rooms which matched their requirements.