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MFA President and General Secretary in London meeting

Published: 27-11-2014 16:50
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MFA president Norman Darmanin Demajo and general secretary Bjorn Vassallo were recently engaged in a series of meetings in London as part of the UEFA Top Executive Programme (TEP). The president and general secretary of each association within UEFA are invited for these meetings and every two years such a gathering is held for all the 54 member countries. Maltese officials in London were with others from England, the Republic of Ireland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands and Gibraltar. UEFA president Michel Platini and general secretary Gianni Infantino also attended the meeting. The second of several items discussed in London concerned the international calendar of the national teams and the new competition to be introduced by UEFA, the European Nations League. This competition is expected to get underway in 2018, with the countries to be divided in four divisions according to their classification based on a co-efficient points system. The mechanism of promotion and relegation will be introduced in this competition. It is to be noted that the main motivation for the national teams should be the possibility of a country from each division qualifying for the Euro Championship finals. Another important item dealt with was the UEFA Executive Committee and the UEFA representatives on the FIFA Executive Committee. There was a thorough discussion on this matter which also gave rise to proposals for the ECA (European Clubs Association) to have a member on the UEFA Executive Committee. The participating associations aired their views on this in an open and productive way. Finally, other themes were put under review. Among these was the financing of the associations and the relations between UEFA and the different associations within the other confederations. The next TEP meeting conducted by UEFA is scheduled to be held in Malta over three days in September 2015, when delegates from all European countries will be hosted here.