MFA personnel will
help to examine whether all football clubs affiliated with the Malta Football
Association are eligible to benefit from the financial aid measures announced
by the Government last week which were extended to the sports sector.
Maltese football is
facing uncertain times after the 2019-20 season was thrown into disarray by the
COVID-19 pandemic which has forced the Malta FA to suspend all domestic
competitions indefinitely.
Clubs are currently
trying to calculate the financial repercussions of having domestic football
halted, leaving their players away from their usual duty for almost a month
now.
But of more concern
to Maltese clubs is the fact is that they are still in the dark on whether the
2019-20 season will be completed as so far UEFA have given little indications
on what will happen.
On Wednesday, UEFA
postponed all international matches scheduled for next June to ensure all
European leagues had enough time to complete their competitions by July 20.
Until UEFA gives a
definite response on what will happen, clubs will continue to face various
conundrums regarding players’ contracts, employees’ wages and revenue from club
sponsors among others.
This week, the
Social Dialogue Committee met again with the various stakeholders in the game
to discuss and take the necessary decisions to mitigate the financial impact of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At present, we understand the concerns regarding contractual instability being faced by players and clubs,” Carlo Mamo, the general secretary of the Malta Football Players Association, who are one of the bodies taking part in these talks, told the Times of Malta.
“There are doubts
on whether the domestic season will continue and if yes when? Should the season
be extended to the summer months, what will happen to the contracts of players
and coaches whose deal expire on June 8? When will the 2020-21 season begin?
“This uncertainty,
being generated by UEFA’s failure to give any kind of guarantees of when
competitions will resume, has inevitably left the clubs in a difficult
situation.”
Huge boost
Mamo said that the
government’s decision to extend its financial assistance aid to the sport
sector was a huge boost to the majority of football clubs. However, one has to
see whether all clubs competing in the MFA competitions are eligible for this
aid.
“The parameters of
this financial aid, which is 800 euros for full-time employees and 500 euros to
part-timers, covers most of the wages in clubs who are in the First Division
and even a good number of Premier Division players. But one has to see if every
club is eligible for this assistance. So, at the moment, our talks have
temporarily been paused.”
Sharlon Pace, the
president of Gżira United, said that the uncertain scenario created by UEFA is
hurting the clubs and made it clear that should the season be extended beyond
the normal timelines, he doesn’t think that the clubs should be the ones to
suffer financially.
“This uncertainty
is very frustrating for us as we still don’t know what is going to happen,”
Pace said.
“Should the
championship continue in June, as it was projected by UEFA, it would see the
clubs go into extra costs as contracts will have to be extended by a couple of
months. In that scenario, I don’t think that it would be fair that clubs should
carry that burden.
“One has to
remember that all revenue from sponsors has stopped at the moment so we cannot
afford more losses.”
