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Malta FA officials attend FIFA Summit Meeting in Amsterdam

Published: 17-01-2018 16:35
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The FIFA Forward programme, the future of youth and women’s competitions and opportunities to ameliorate the transfer system and international match calendar were the main topics discussed during the fifth FIFA Executive Football Summit, staged in Amsterdam on Tuesday.  Representatives from the AFC, CONCACAF and UEFA convened in the Dutch capital to discuss their experiences and country-specific issues and bring themselves up to date on the global game. The summit provided all of the delegates with an opportunity to share their knowledge and coordinate next steps. The Malta FA was represented by President Norman Darmanin Demajo and Vice-President Dr Matthew Paris. Also present was Bjorn Vassallo, the former General Secretary of the Malta FA who now occupies the role of Director of Member Associations (Europe) at FIFA. Darmanin Demajo gave a presentation on the projects done by the Malta FA with the backing of FIFA under its Forward programme. These include the new hybrid pitch for the National Stadium, the installation of a new FIFA Quality Pro pitch at the Centenary Stadium and the Trophies Lounge which is part of a wider project to embellish the Millennium Stand. When launching this series of summits in Paris in November 2016, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that the beautiful game can only develop successfully if FIFA cooperates closely and communicates regularly with its 211 member associations. “It is important that in future the decisions at FIFA are not dictated from the top but really come from those who have to engage with and organise football in their countries every day,” he said. Amsterdam was the fifth in a series of 12 meetings taking place in 2017/2018. The other meetings were staged in Azerbaijan, Turkey, New Caledonia and Hong Kong. The following member associations attended the fifth FIFA Executive Football Summit in Amsterdam earlier this week: Iran, Kyrgyz Republic, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Anguilla, Aruba, Curacao, Suriname, Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Wales, Armenia.