Luke Dimech's debut for Valletta in last Monday's opening match from the Euro Challenge Cup has caused the first controversy of the new season.

Birkirkara, who drew 1-1 with Valletta on Monday, lodged a protest with the Malta FA on Tuesday in which they claimed that the newly-signed Valletta defender was ineligible to play but yesterday evening, Stripes chairman Victor Zammit announced that they were withdrawing their complaint as a sign of "good faith".

Birkirkara's move had drawn a sharp response from Valletta who yesterday called a news conference at their club premises to explain their decision to play Dimech, formerly of Macclesfield, on Monday and also to promote their Champions League match against Slovakia's Artmedia Petrzalska.

Victor Sciriha, the Valletta president, said his club had requested Dimech's international transfer certificate (ITC) from the English FA on July 1 but the clearance was only received last Tuesday, the day after the Citizens drew 1-1 with Birkirkara.

"Dimech's ITC was received on Tuesday but we had applied for it on July 1," Sciriha said. "The English FA had told us that the ITC would be considered effective from the date when the application was made but the MFA regulations are different.

"In view of the friendly nature of the Euro Challenge Cup, we decided to play Dimech because he's one of our new signings and we all agreed that the match would stand him in good stead. These games are part of the teams' preparations for European competition and had Birkirkara elected to field any new players whose MFA registration was still pending, we would not have filed a protest.

"Had this happened in a league match, we would have objected but not in a pre-season tournament."

Contacted by The Times yesterday afternoon, Zammit, the Birkirkara chairman, said: "Fellow committee members drew my attention to the fact that Luke Dimech had not yet been registered with the MFA when we played Valletta on Monday.

"As chairman of Birkirkara, I have a duty towards the club and the fans to ensure that such irregularities do not go unnoticed if these occur in matches involving our team.

"I agree that these matches are intended to help teams prepare for their European commitments but I also have a responsibility to safeguard the interests of my club."

Later on in the day, Zammit issued a statement announcing Birkirkara's decision to withdraw their protest.

"Although Birkirkara are still of the opinion that Valletta made a serious mistake in knowingly fielding a player who was not eligible to play, we feel that the basic rule of fair play should be applied in this particular case. The protest is being withdrawn as a sign of good faith so that the new football season starts on a better note."

In his statement, Zammit also called for a change in the regulations of the Euro Challenge Cup so that the three participating teams can use these matches to assess the Maltese and foreign players who are on trial.

Sources told The Times that Valletta are still likely to face disciplinary action by the Malta FA for breaching regulations by fielding an ineligible player.

Champions League

Switching his attention to Valletta's European assignments against Artmedia, Sciriha said that the first leg of their first qualifying round Champions League match will be played on Tuesday at the National Stadium, kicking off at 8 p.m.

The Valletta president described Artmedia as a very strong team with a vast experience of Champions League football. "Suffice to say that Artmedia have five Slovakian internationals in their squad," Sciriha said.

As Valletta's preparations for the new season get in full swing, Sciriha urged the club fans to attend a social activity at Hastings Garden on Saturday evening.

On the club's efforts to strengthen their squad with the addition of two or three new foreign players, Sciriha confirmed that Valletta have reached an agreement with Msida St Joseph to sign Cameroon forward Priso Doding.

"Talks with Msida officials for Priso Doding have led to an accord," Sciriha said. "We have discussed personal terms with the player but we're still awaiting his reply on our proposal which, I think, is an attractive one.

"If Priso rejects our offer, we will look at other options. We are in no hurry to sign foreign players because the deadline to name the squad for the Champions League has already passed."

Sciriha revealed that Msida have asked to take young midfielder Kurt Magro on loan for one year as part of the Doding deal while Ħamrun Spartans have made a preliminary enquiry about defender Massimo Grima. Left-back Rennie Forace agreed a one-year deal with Qormi.