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The countdown for the 2017 MFA Awards has begun. Preparations started several months ago as an event of this magnitude requires a lot of planning.   The members of the Organising Committee, led by MFA Vice-President Matthew Paris and General Secretary Angelo Chetcuti, and their dedicated teams are now putting the finishing touches to the preparations ahead of the MFA Awards night, this year being held on May 14 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre. The main theme of this year’s MFA Awards is 60 years of international football as Malta played its first official international match against Austria on February 24, 1957. The announcement of the nominees in the main categories of the MFA Awards on Tuesday lifted the curtains on the build-up for this year’s event. As was to be expected, the five candidates for the MFA Footballer of the Year accolade generated a lot of interest among local players and fans alike as this award is the most prestigious individual honour in Maltese football. The race for the top prize promises to be a close call as the five finalists, all Malta internationals, have had a very positive season. Defender Andrei Agius and midfielder Bjorn Kristensen have played a prominent role in Hibernians’ title success while Balzan midfielder Paul Fenech, the only candidate who has won the MFA Footballer of the Year Award in the past, has been one of the best performers for his club this season. The other two hopefuls, midfielder Gareth Sciberras, who retired from international football after Malta’s qualifier against Slovakia in March, and left-back Joseph Zerafa have undoubtedly made a massive contribution for Birkirkara FC this season. Sciberras has announced that he will end his playing career at the end of this season. Apart from the voting by the journalists, club captains and coaches, and coaches from the Malta FA Technical Centre, a judging panel composed of journalists and commentators who regularly follow the BOV Premier League have been sifting through a compilation of over 40 goals to draw up a list of candidates for the best goal award. This season has produced some amazing goals and choosing the best 10 is certainly not a straightforward task. The 10-goal shortlist will be issued after the final programme of this season’s BOV Premier League which comes to an end on Saturday when Hibernians are crowned champions at the end of their match against Tarxien Rainbows at the National Stadium. The public will decide the winner of the best goal award as there will be an SMS number associated with every entry for televoting purposes. The 10-goal shortlist will be whittled down to five just before the MFA Awards night on May 14. The 2017 MFA Awards will be screened live on TVM2, starting at 8.30pm.