Licensing reforms approved by Malta FA ExBo

The club licensing reforms, the technical and personnel requisites in the different categories, and attendance figures for the 2021-22 senior football competitions were on the agenda of the Malta Football Association Executive Board’s meeting, held on Tuesday at the Centenary Hall.

The extensive regulatory and governance reforms, co-ordinated by Malta FA Vice-President Dr Matthew Paris, are part of the Malta FA Strategy 2020-24 with the long consultation process culminating in the Executive Board members approving important amendments to the licensing regulations, rules governing competitions, and squad lists at Tuesday’s meeting.

“The regulatory reforms are part of the seventh pillar of the Malta FA Strategy – Govern and Lead,” Malta FA President Bjorn Vassallo said. “The overriding objective is to refine the regulatory frameworks to boost the level of professionalism.

“We have invested long hours of discussion in these reforms at different levels. The process has been a painstaking one and reaching a consensus has not been easy but we are very grateful to all the clubs and stakeholders who, with a sense of maturity, are contributing to these reforms.”

CLUB LICENSING

The key principles underlying club licensing remain unchanged, namely to ensure clubs do not have overdue payables and respect the minimum technical and administrative criteria for the level they compete in. These have been updated to incentivize better administrative structures and technical set-up at club level.

Newly-promoted clubs will benefit from a transitory period of one year in order to adjust their status in accordance with the regulations after which the stipulated sanctions will come into force.

The Executive Board also discussed the issue concerning clubs with a semi-professional licence and players who have a professional contract in the event that the club is relegated to the National Amateur League. Following a long discussion, and after taking into account the positions expressed by the Challenge League and Amateur League clubs as well as the Malta Football Players Association, the ExBo members agreed the following with regard to players contracted with clubs that are relegated to the Amateur League:

• From season 2022/23, Amateur Clubs may have one homegrown player registered with them under a written employment contract on a part-time basis;
• Players in excess to be released or loaned out.

Depending on their licence status, clubs must also adhere to revised criteria pertaining to the squad list and the qualifications of technical staff and other personnel.  Clubs holding a professional status must have a minimum of 12 players registered as professionals but from season 2022-23, these professionals must include homegrown players, starting with one from next season and gradually increasing to five until season 2026-27.

Semi-professional clubs in the Challenge League must include five professional players in their squad list plus another five professional players who have been part of the Association’s youth sector.

The ExBo also adjusted the definition of the ‘prohibition’ as a sanction imposed on clubs in breach of any of the relevant criteria. As proposed by the Social Dialogue Committee, where a member club is sanctioned with a prohibition, such club will not be able to register players with it who are sixteen (16) years or older, including taking in such players on loan until such prohibition is lifted by the Member Clubs’ Licensing Board. However, the club would be able to release players or to register with it younger players.

TECHNICAL AND PERSONNEL CRITERIA

Malta FA General Secretary Dr Angelo Chetcuti said the commitment to raise the standards across all sectors of Maltese football is also reflected in the technical and personnel criteria for clubs, especially for those holding a professional and semi-professional status. These criteria, mainly related to the recruitment of qualified personnel in coaching, technical, medical and administrative positions, will be introduced gradually over the next five years, starting from next season (2022-23).

2021-22 ATTENDANCES

Attendances for the domestic football competitions in season 2021/22 were once again adversely impacted by COVID-19 as matches were played under COVID-19 protocols for several months, including a period when games were played entirely behind closed doors, while entry restrictions remained in place up until the final weeks of the 2021-22 campaign. There was a noticeable increase in the number of spectators, especially in the BOV Premier League and IZIBET FA Trophy, after all remaining restrictions had been lifted.

The overall attendance for the 2021-22 BOV Premier League reached circa 70% of pre-Covid levels, with the highest attendance being registered in the IZIBET FA Trophy Final with just over 6,000 spectators. The ExBo was given an overview of the costs of the different divisions and their distribution.

BOV CHALLENGE LEAGUE FORMAT

The format of the BOV Challenge League for season 2022-23 has been approved by the Executive Board. A total of 18 teams will compete in the second-tier championship which will be played on a single-round basis in the first phase. Teams will be split into two pools in the second phase with the top six playing over two rounds and the remaining 12 playing on a single round basis.

The six teams occupying the last six spots at the end of the second phase will be relegated. The first- and second-placed teams in the top-six pool will be promoted to the BOV Premier League while the third-placed team will face the third-from-bottom side in the 2022-23 top division in a promotion/relegation play-off. With these sporting outcomes at the end of the season, the Challenge League will return to its regular composition of 16 teams for the following season.

BEREAVEMENT

At the start of the Executive Board meeting, Malta FA President Bjorn Vassallo saluted the memory of Joseph Gauci, the former Birkirkara FC President and long-serving football administrator who passed away earlier this month.