It has been described as "the jewel in the Malta FA's crown" and rightly so. The crown in itself carries quite a cost with it, let alone its main jewel.

The new millennium stand is estimated to have cost an approximate Lm3.5 million. One wonders, do we really need such a costly and lavish stand especially when it does not reflect results obtained by our national squad against foreign sides? If it is true that the old east stand was declared a dangerous structure, should it have been replaced by such an elaborate structure?

I hope the FA has made its calculations right from the beginning as to how it is going to finance the project.

I am sure it will not be financed out of the gate money alone as the number of spectators attending football matches is usually very small.

Or will the financing of the project be left as an annual debt which will ultimately be paid off by the government, and thus out of our taxes.

Our parliamentary secretary for youth and sport described the MFA as being made up of people who are truly committed to raising the standard of the game in every aspect.

I hope they will not forget the principal aspect of the game: that is, the results obtained on the field rather than the building of bombastic structures which seems to be the best thing that we Maltese do in order to try to enhance our sporting effort.

I am sure Maltese football would have achieved the same results with something less elaborate and extravagant.