Msida St Joseph yesterday announced that their main sponsors for the rest of the season will be Hard Rock Café.

The club's other backers, namely JF security, General Soft Drinks, Active Zone and Eurosport, will also continue to support the team, Robert Farrugia, the president of Msida St Joseph, told a news conference at the Baystreet Complex yesterday.

Farrugia thanked Hard Rock Café and the club's marketing director, Adrian Grech Cumbo, a former Msida player who, along with Pierre Portelli, was instrumental in the signing of this sponsorship deal.

Words of praise were also directed at the players, coach Patrick Curmi and his staff for their sterling service to the club.

Farrugia also highlighted the work being carried out by Msida St Joseph to upgrade their training facilities, pointing out that after the installation of new pitches at the Junior Lyceum, there are now plans to build new offices and dressing rooms.

Asked about any possible shifting of players during the January transfer window, Farrugia revealed that Brazilian forward Pedro Dos Santos Calcado was attracting interest from agents in England and Spain.

For his part, Msida coach Curmi emphasised the point that a year ago, his team were second from bottom in the Premier League but they are now in sixth place and have two points more than they had at this stage last season.

Coach Curmi then went on to explain why Brazilians Calcado and Marco Aurellio were introduced in the second half of Msida's 2-1 defeat to Sliema Wanderers on Sunday.

Curmi said that both players were carrying a knock, adding that he elected to bring them on as subs late in the match also because it was the first time they were playing on the artificial turf of the Tedesco Stadium.

Zongo transfer

Finally, Farrugia spoke about the money Msida are owed by Portuguese club Uniao Leira for the transfer of Ousseni Zongo, the forward from Burkina Faso, in the summer of 2007.

The Msida president said his club had found great co-operation from Malta FA president Joe Mifsud and vice-president Peter Fenech who helped to contact both the Portuguese FA and FIFA after the matter was brought to their attention by Antoine Portelli, the club's council member.

The world governing body of football has ordered Uniao Leira to settle their dues with Msida by not later than December 3.

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