Mosta’s protest against the result of their BOV Premier League match against Valletta was not upheld by the Malta FA Protest Board yesterday.
The Blues claimed that during Tuesday’s match, which ended in a 2-2 draw, Valletta violated the competition rules as, for a very short period in the second half, the Citizens had six foreign players on the pitch when Premier League teams can’t have more than five at any time.
Having started the match with five foreigners, Valletta coach Andre Paus made a double substitution around the 70th-minute mark. When Hamza Barry replaced Edmond Agius, Valletta temporarily had six players on the pitch before Abdelkarim Nafti made way for Luke Montebello.
Play was stopped when the double substitution took place but Mosta argued that Valletta still breached the competition rules and as such they should be awarded the three points.
However, the MFA Protest Board rejected Mosta’s arguments, concluding that Valletta had not breached the rules and therefore the result should stand.
In its judgment, the protests board also invited the MFA Council to amend the wording of the regulations on foreigners so similar circumstances are avoided in the future.