Administrative report sheds light on eventful 2018-19 season

Season 2018-19 was another eventful one for the Malta Football Association in all aspects. Dr Angelo Chetcuti, the Malta FA General Secretary, gave a detailed overview of the activities and initiatives which defined the Association’s work over the past 12 months during the ongoing Annual General Meeting at the Grand Hotel Excelsior. “I’m pleased to be presenting the administrative report for a season that offered a bit of everything, an eventful season which, in a way, passes very quickly after all the preparations and work,” Dr Chetcuti told the assembly. “At the same time, on a competitive level, this was a never-ending season as we had a championship decider, the 10th one in the history of Maltese football and the first to be decided by penalties, and an enthralling FA Trophy final which also went to penalties.” Dr Chetcuti’s presentation was supported by a video feature highlighting the multitude of events and projects undertaken by the Malta FA last season in all sectors, from the school visits, football festivals and other activities to promote football at gassroots level, the on-going emphasis on continued education for football administrators to infrastructure and the commitments of the national teams at all levels. “There are other points you will see mentioned in the financial report as these entail a substantial investment,” Dr Chetcuti added. “I would like to highlight the projects of the Centenary Stadium and the dressing room and gym of the national teams which were done thanks to the funds from the FIFA Forward programme as well as other infrastructural and technical projects that are supported by UEFA’s HatTrick Programme.” INTRODUCTION OF COMET The introduction of COMET, the football management system, was described as a significant development. COMET is an integrated application system that aggregates the principal business processes and data of sports organisations, including player registrations and management of competitions. In praising the “smooth introduction of COMET” thanks to the efforts and co-operation of all the stakeholders, Dr Chetcuti said that this data management system has significantly improved the access to information, facilitated the registration and application processes and also ensured greater transparency. Other initiatives introduced by the Malta FA in 2018-19 included InStat, an online platform that provides in-depth analysis of players’ performances for coaches, and a number of research studies which have been put together in a new publication, entitled State of Play which was launched during today’s AGM. Also in season 2018-19, the Malta FA introduced a number of assistance programmes for clubs, including the Use of Young Players Scheme and the Guaranteed Gate Income Scheme. The Malta FA General Secretary concluded his speech by expressing his heartfelt gratitude to outgoing Malta FA President Norman Darmanin Demajo for his contribution to Maltese football during his nine-year tenure at the helm of the Association.