Former Malta FA president Joe Mifsud’s future as a member of the UEFA Executive Committee came under the spotlight during the association’s council meeting yesterday.
Norman Darmanin Demajo, the president of the Malta FA, read out a letter from UEFA outlining the deadline for the nomination of candidates for the forthcoming Executive Committee (Exco) election and the names of the officials whose term of office expires in March.
This prompted Jesmond Abela, the Hibs official who sits on the MFA Executive Committee, to talk up the benefits of having a Maltese person, in this case Dr Mifsud, forming part of UEFA’s top organ.
A long-serving member of UEFA’s Exco, Dr Mifsud, who was present for yesterday’s council meeting, is also one of the five vice-presidents of European football’s governing body but his defeat to Darmanin Demajo at the last Malta FA presidential election cast doubts over his future involvement within UEFA.
Darmanin Demajo, who has been at loggerheads with Dr Mifsud for the past 10 years, said that the clubs were free to write to the Malta FA proposing Dr Mifsud as a candidate for the UEFA Exco committee election.
Any such proposal would then be discussed by the MFA Bureau and its Executive Committee but Darmanin Demajo told the assembly that he has already made his position on the subject known.
In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Darmanin Demajo made it clear that he had no intention of proposing Dr Mifsud as a candidate for the next UEFA Exco election, to be held during the association’s 35th congress on March 22 in Paris.
Dr Mifsud, who was unseated by Darmanin Demajo, himself a former MFA treasurer, after 18 years at the helm, can attend council meetings as an observer after being named MFA honorary president.
Meanwhile, Darmanin Demajo reiterated the MFA’s commit-ment to help clubs improve their facilities during his end-of-year speech.
The MFA president also intimated that negotiations with Bank of Valletta and Maltco over the renewal of the sponsorship of the national leagues and KO competitions respectively, are progressing well.
Antoine Portelli, the Malta FA’s treasurer, told the council that the total of spectators for the first 44 BOV Premier League matches has risen by 16 per cent compared to last season.
Clubs have also benefited from a substantial income hike from the Malta FA thanks to the association’s decision to forfeit its share from gate receipts, a beaming Portelli said.
It was also announced yesterday that the MFA registrations’ department will open between 8.30 a.m. and noon on January 2, a Sunday, to enable clubs to register new signings at the start of the transfer window.