Maltese match officials presented with FIFA Badges for 2012

 At a short but significant ceremony held at the Meridien Hotel & Spa St. Julian’s on Tuesday evening 16 Maltese officials in several categories of football were presented with the FIFA badges for 2012, a presentation which was due reward for the referees and assistant referees who do sterling work for the game.  The Malta Football Association Chief Executive Officer, Bjorn Vassallo, presented the badges at the end of the monthly instructional meeting for referees and match observers. The meeting was rounded off by filmed clips on power point of episodes in football matches which warranted a discussion as to the decision which should be taken. The presentation was done by Director of Refereeing Adrian Casha. There was a record number of 16 officials, amongst whom were four referees, a women’s referee and eight assistant referees who were presented with the FIFA badges. These were referees Marco Borg, Christopher Lautier, Clayton Pisani, Alan Mario Sant and Esther Azzopardi. The assistant referees were Konrad Borg, Alan Camilleri, William Debattista, Mariano Debono, Christopher Francalanza, Edward Spiteri, Ingmar Spiteri and Mitchell Scerri who has replaced Joseph Camilleri after the latter retired on reaching the FIFA age limit. Camilleri was presented with a memento as a token of thanks for his services in the last nine years..   FIFA Badges were also presented to Futsal referee Franco Cachia and for the first time there were two Beach Soccer referees, Stefan Pace and Jude Amin Utulu. Before the presentation the MFA CEO addressed the numerous match officials and amongst other things he spoke on the importance of maintaining a high level of match control.  At the end of the ceremony he thanked the Referees Committee chaired by Charlie Agius, all the referees and assistant referees, match inspectors and others in the sector including the Malta Football Referees Association who devoted much of their time in order to keep our standards of refereeing high. Adrian Casha reciprocated by thanking the MFA for their constant support whilst also expressing his satisfaction at the work being done by all concerned in this field. Photos: Copyright domenic aquilina