The Referees Department at the Malta FA has been revolutionised.

The overhaul was necessary and certain obligations had to be met following the signing of the European Convention on Referees.

The Head of Department is Patrick Fenech, an experienced official at the administrative level.

He will be taking an active part in all spheres and will be directly involved in the nomination of referees for senior matches, the education of officials in footballing matters and other issues.

Two sections within the department are the Youth Development Unit, under Victor Mintoff, and the Media Unit, managed by Gaetano Degabriele.

The Referees Board lays special emphasis on youth and needs to recruit and retain referees within its fold. It is no use having young men and women sitting for examinations in the Laws of the Game after attending a course and then losing them for some reason, many times unrelated to the sport.

At the moment, however, we have an encouraging crop of young referees who are doing the MFA proud.

Women should not give the chance of becoming a referee as they, too, can reach the top.

Esther Azzopardi, the daughter of former international assistant Ronnie Farrugia, is already in the second category of top women referees, controlling various matches and participating in tournaments on a European level.

The Media Unit will be mainly responsible for liaison affairs.

Referees cannot yet talk to the media individually but this does not mean that there are no members of the board who can keep in touch with the various means of communication.

This unit will also look after that part of the MFA website dealing with referees and their activities.