Beach soccer takes centre-stage at Pretty Bay festival

A Beach Soccer Festival was successfully held last weekend at Pretty Bay in Birżebbuġa. Organised by Malta Beach Soccer with the support of the Malta Football Association, the event was held in compliance with the COVID-19 guidelines and measures of the local health authorities. Birżebbuġa FC won the inaugural tournament which featured the participation of four teams, the other being Għargħur, Fgura PFLF 2 and Peter’s PFLF1. The teams played each other on a round-robin basis on Saturday leading to the semi-finals and final on Sunday. In a well-contested final, Birżebbuġa had the better of Għargħur Boys 9-8 on penalties following a 6-6 draw. Birżebbuġa’s Noel Tabone was the tournament’s top scorer with five goals followed by Ayoub Ahmad of Għargħur Boys with four. The Beach Soccer Festival also embraced the social and humanitarian aspect as part of the Malta FA’s Play Football Live Football project. The activities are aimed at promoting and facilitating the integration and social inclusion of refugees as well as Maltese nationals struggling to integrate in the community. FIFA Beach Soccer referees Jonathan Mallia and Pierre Bonnici were part of the pool of match officials for this tournament. Malta Beach Soccer president Pio Vassallo said the festival signals the start of a new chapter for beach soccer in Malta, noting that there is renewed enthusiasm and a vision to enhance the popularity of beach soccer in Malta in spite of the current COVID-19 difficulties. The presentation of trophies was carried by Birżebbuġa Councillor Carlo Stivala and Mark Marlow, Head of the Futsal and Beach Soccer Department at the Malta FA.