Malta FA president Norman Darmanin Demajo believes the decision to drop Valletta FC players from the national squad for the friendly against Albania doesn’t warrant an apology from him but insisted that, as far as he is concerned, the issue is closed.

Valletta caused controversy earlier this month when they informed the MFA that their players were to report for international duty two days after the stipulated date as coach Andre Paus was adamant that the players should be given two days to recover from a midweek match against Hibs.

Malta coach Pietro Ghedin eventually omitted the Valletta players from his squad, citing technical reasons, but Darmanin Demajo’s ensuing criticism of the Citizens’ stance prompted Victor Sciriha, the club president, to demand an apology from the MFA head.

“It’s not my intention to blow this issue further but I stand by what I said,” Darmanin Demajo told the association’s council members yesterday.

In clarifying the MFA’s position in light of the controversy surrounding the training row with Valletta, Darmanin Demajo gave a detailed account of the steps taken by the association to address what he described as the long-standing “tug-of-war between the clubs and national teams” over the training scheme for national team players.

Darmanin Demajo said this was not the first time Valletta had failed to honour the agreement over the release of players as, back in October, they had also sent a terse email to the MFA saying they had decided not to send their players to train with the national squad for the next two weeks as Malta were not due to play before the third week of November (against Faroe Islands).

“At the time, I told Bjorn (Vassallo) that I was growing tired of these disputes with the clubs,” Darmanin Demajo said.

“I suggested that we should pursue a new agreement over the training scheme as times have changed.

“That was in November. We spoke to the clubs and agreed that, from now on, the players will train only with them.

“They were pleased. The clubs’ argument was that they are more professional nowadays and they can therefore work on their own. At that meeting, we also agreed on the days when players should report for international duty.

“This new situation created complications for us as we had to revise the contracts of several members of our technical staff but we were prepared to do this to accommodate clubs.”

Looking back on the events that led Ghedin to do without Valletta players for the Albania friendly (Malta lost 2-0), Darmanin Demajo said the MFA had asked Valletta to make their position clear in writing.

The MFA president added that Gerard Ellul, Valletta’s team manager, wrote in his email that he was 100 per cent aware of the agreement and commitment with the MFA but the club’s efforts to persuade Paus to change his mind had proved futile.

“You have every right to make decisions you deem to be in the best interest of the club but we also have the right to decide what is best for our clubs and the national team,” Darmanin Demajo said.

“And it was a technical decision... it’s simple, if you don’t come for training, you will not be considered for selection… I feel sorry for the players.”

Darmanin Demajo also insisted that the MFA wouldn’t stand in the way of any players who are reluctant to play for the country.

“Those who don’t want to be selected, they can do so,” he said.

“They just have to inform us. Personally I don’t agree that players who don’t wish to be part of the national team should be disciplined.

“In my playing days, to wear the national team’s shirt was a matter of pride.”

The MFA president reiterated his backing for the technical centre’s decision to exclude the Valletta players from the squad for the trip to Albania.

“With respect to everyone, especially the clubs, that was the only decision we could have made,” Darmanin Demajo said.

“Just imagine a situation where we have an agreement in place and things change before every game.

“I back the technical centre’s decision 100 per cent. As president of MFA, I don’t have to apologise for anything.

“If I’ve committed a mistake, let me know and I will make an apology,” Darmanin Demajo told the assembly.

Paul Spiteri, Valletta’s senior vice-president and council member, said the club were aggrieved by Darmanin Demajo’s remark that the committee “should be ashamed for putting their players in this position”.

Spiteri also criticised the way the MFA handled the issue, especially the decision to allow the Valletta players to train twice on Saturday when the decision to drop them from their squad had already been made.

Darmanin Demajo reaffirmed that he hasn’t got a problem with anyone, telling the Valletta official: “You only have to decide whether you are prepared to adhere to the agreement. To be honest, I can’t understand why any club should oppose to having players with the national team.

“If I were a club president, I would push the players towards the national team with a bulldozer if possible as UEFA are now paying clubs a compensation sum between 6,000 and 6,500 euros for every player who appears in an international match.”

FA Trophy on April 30

The final of the U*Bet FA Trophy, between Valletta and Sliema Wanderers, has been brought forward to April 30.

The final was originally scheduled to be played on May 4 but the Police Commissioner informed the MFA that the date had to be changed as it clashed with the feast of St Publius in Floriana.

• Bjorn Vassallo, the MFA CEO, revealed that the application of Hibs forward Joseph Mbong to be granted Maltese citizenship had been approved and documents were to be approved yesterday evening.

Mbong, the son of former Hibs midfielder Essien Mbong who died last year, has been living in Malta for the past 15 years. The MFA have long been engaged in efforts to help Mbong secure a Maltese passport before the UEFA U-17 Championships as he is part of the Malta U-17 squad.

Vassallo expressed his gratitude for the government’s support and co-operation.

• It was decided that Floriana’s request for permission to take legal action against former president Steve Vaughan Jr over the control, management and expenditure of the club’s funds, should be first discussed by the Exco.

The Exco will also look into the Greens’ complaint that Vaughan Jr may have violated the MFA statute as he filed a garnishee order against the club without seeking the association’s permission as, since severing his links with Floriana, the former president has been appointed technical director of Mosta.

Floriana representative Dione Borg ob-jected to Darmanin Demajo’s proposal to refer his club’s request for discussion by the Exco but the Council eased his concerns by granting the Greens permission to lodge a counter-claim against Vaughan Jr’s application.

• The MFA have turned down a request from Division One club Birżebbuġa St Peter’s to change their name to Brera Birżebbuġa.

• Ħamrun Spartans have extended the suspension of goalkeeper Andrea Cassar by a further 28 days while Lija Athletic also banned their keeper Kris Calleja for 28 days.

• UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against the MFA after a UEFA delegate reported that no body searches were carried out before the U-21 qualifier between Malta and Sweden on March 5.