A new era for the national team begins on Thursday when Pietro Ghedin officially takes over as Malta coach for the second time in his coaching career.
“Pietro Ghedin was here last week,” Norman Darmanin Demajo, the MFA president, said during a council meeting yesterday.
“He came over to meet us and finalise the remaining details of the agreement. Ghedin is returning on Thursday when he will officially start his work as Malta coach.”
The members of the MFA Exco rubberstamped Ghedin’s appointment last week after the Italian agreed a three-and-a-half-year deal to succeed John Buttigieg.
Prior to accepting the Malta FA’s offer, Ghedin had been in charge of the Italy women’s team since 2005.
His contract with the Italian football federation (FIGC) had another month left to run but Ghedin, who was at the helm of the national team in the nineties, secured an early release to oversee Malta’s preparations for the friendly away to Luxembourg on June 2.
Malta have lined up another friendly against fellow minnows San Marino on August 12 before launching their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign with a home match against Armenia on September 7 and a trip to Italy four days later.
At yesterday’s council meeting, Carmelo Bartolo, the Malta FA senior vice-president, announced that six Premier League clubs had applied for a UEFA licence but one failed to meet the financial criteria.
The clubs to obtain a UEFA licence are newly-crowned champions Valletta, Birkirkara and Hibs while Sliema and Floriana still have some minor issues to address but both are expected to get the green light.
Malta will be represented by four clubs in European competitions next season with Valletta now sure to fly the country’s flag in the Champions League.
Bjorn Vassallo, the Malta FA CEO, said it’s still unclear whether Valletta will start their participation in the preliminary round or the first qualifying round proper.
This will depend on the outcome of the Champions League final with Rodney Pisani, the MFA’s deputy general secretary, explaining that, due to co-efficient considerations, Valletta will play in the preliminary round of the Champions League if Chelsea lift the cup on May 19. A Bayern Munich success would automatically promote Valletta to the first qualifying round proper.
Vassallo revealed that MFA officials have had a series of meetings with all the clubs across the four divisions about UEFA’s financial fair play regulations.
As the proposed rules are intended for clubs with an annual revenue exceeding €5 million, the MFA had to adjust the regulations to reflect the realities of Maltese football.
While declaring himself pleased with the turn-out for these informative meetings, Vassallo said: “We know that our football is also plagued by financial problems which must be addressed. We have reached a situation where we can no longer escape reality... we must grab the bull by the horns.”
Darmanin Demajo also said that a letter sent by the lawyer of former Malta mentor Buttigieg and his assistant Carmel Busuttil over the suspension of their coaching licences failed to appease the MFA.
After paying compensation to the two former coaches over the premature termination of their contracts, the MFA said it expected some form of apology from Buttigieg and Busuttil for filing a judicial protest against the MFA but, according to Darmanin Demajo, this has not been forthcoming as, in his words, the letter was full of “legal terminology”.
The MFA Exco has decided to file a charge against Mqabba midfielder Marko Potezica over comments he posted on his club’s Facebook page about Mosta player Kurt Magro.
Potezica’s comments came to light after Magro suffered a foot fracture in Mosta’s 2-2 draw with Mqabba the weekend before last.