The National Stadium will have a more modern outlook once ex-tensive upgrading works will be completed in time before the Euro 2012 qualifier between Malta and Croatia on September 2.
Bjorn Vassallo, the MFA chief executive officer, told reporters yesterday that the country’s football governing body was committed to enhancing the image of the sport.
The MFA, he said, have more suitable facilities in place now as the decision to upgrade was considered crucial in a broad drive to increase the popularity of football on our shores.
“When the new administration took over we were committed to ad-dress a number of key areas which we felt needed to be im-proved and the facilities at the National Stadium was one sector we looked to upgrade,” Vassallo said.
“To this end, we kicked off a series of projects which have now entered the final stages.
In fact, we are hopeful that for the upcoming Euro qualifier against Croatia we will unveil some of these projects including a new doping room and media facilities.
The seating area at the Millen-nium Stand has also been re-furbished and a new perimeter fencing at the West End was installed for safety reasons.
“The VIP area has also been embellished with a lounge for visitors and special guests together with a new reception area,” Vassallo said.
The MFA now owns more ad-vanced machinery to maintain the turf pitches at Ta’ Qali but, perhaps, the most interesting novelty for stadium-goers this season will be a new electronic ticket-ing system that comes into effect today.
“For Premier League and Trophy matches, spectators will access to the National Stadium and the grounds at Ħamrun and Corradino via a modern electronic ticketing device,” Vassallo explained.
“This method will eliminate abuse and it will also ensure security and a more flowing entrance to the stands. For the first few months, tickets will still be available from booths on matchday. However, in future tickets will be sold from outside pre-sellers.”
Vassallo said there will also be electronic cards for VIP areas in local stadiums with access restricted according to the colour assigned to card holders who will scan the barcode before walking through the turnstile.
Ticket prices for Premier League matches this season were esta-blished at €6 for adults and €4 for KartAnzjan holders. Children under 12 years will pay €1.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed that security at the National Stadium has also been beefed up with the construction of an adequate depot where police can detain unruly fans and keep them locked up until being transported elsewhere.
A CCTV system is also in place to monitor the behaviour of the fans during matches.