MFA president Joe Mifsud has promised to give clubs and three other member associations an annual grant of €5,000 if he is re-elected.
With the much-awaited vote for the MFA presidency less than three weeks away, Dr Mifsud used the association's awards ceremony on Friday evening as a platform to spell out his plans for the next three years.
Dr Mifsud, who has been at the helm of the local governing body of football since 1992, is braced for another stern challenge from Norman Darmanin Demajo, the former MFA honorary treasurer who has long signalled his intent to run for the top job after narrowly losing to the current incumbent in the last election three years ago.
After providing a lowdown on the MFA's work in season 2009/10, Dr Mifsud switched to election mode as he outlined the salient parts of his manifesto which was published yesterday.
The promise of an annual €5,000 contribution to the clubs for the period 2010-2013 is one of the most interesting proposals in Dr Mifsud's programme.
The MFA head is committing himself to secure an international friendly match against a top footballing nation and the income from TV rights and advertising will provide the funds for this annual donation to the clubs, the Youth FA (YFA), the Malta Football Referees Association (MFRA) and the Malta Football Coaches Association (MFCA).
"In season 2010/11, our national 'A' team will play a friendly match against a top, well-known team so that the revenue from the TV rights and advertising for the game will enable the MFA to give a grant of €5,000 to every member club, YFA, MFRA and MFCA," Dr Mifsud said.
"The clubs will receive the grant at the end of the season for the next three years.
"Furthermore, from the revenue (generated by the friendly), the MFA will, for the next three years, cover all expenses for its affiliated officials who control matches from competitions of member associations, bar those of the YFA, but including those matches from the first and second division of the Gozo FA."
A lucrative draw for Malta in the qualifying round of the 2014 World Cup, to be staged in Brazil, would also boost the clubs' coffers.
"The member clubs will benefit financially from the bonus attached to TV rights and international advertising if, in the next preliminary competition for the 2014 World Cup, our national team is drawn in a group that contains a nation that would entitle the MFA to an additional payment," Dr Mifsud said.
"In such event, the MFA will allocate half of the sum for the development of Maltese football, especially the youth sector, and the other half will be divided among the members of the association."
Dr Mifsud is also pledging to increase funds for the project to upgrade local club facilities by €2.5 million.
"This will benefit those members who have not availed themselves of this initiative as well as those that have already benefited from it in the period 2008/2010," Dr Mifsud said.
"This project will also encompass the construction of new stands and the improvement of existing ones".
Other keynote proposals in Dr Mifsud's manifesto include financial assistance to clubs to employ an administrator on a full- or part-time basis; discussions over sponsorship agreements to secure better financial terms and services for the clubs; a fresh drive to attract sponsorships for youth, women's and futsal competitions; and pressure on government so that clubs and nurseries qualify for a social case status with regards to energy consumption bills.
"I leave it in the hands of the members of the association to decide whether, for the next three years, the interests of the MFA would be better served with me staying on as president," Dr Mifsud said.
"They have to decide if it pays for the MFA to have a president who also occupies the post of UEFA vice-president, one who is held in high esteem both locally and outside our shores.
"Behind me there is a positive past... a legacy that everyone can see with their eyes and touch with their hands."
The election for MFA president will take place on August 7.