NURSERIES REGISTRATION – A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

A necessary step towards bringing the regulations governing the registration of players with club nurseries in sync with those of FIFA was recently given the go-ahead by the Malta Football Association Council.  The new regulations envisage the raising of the minimum age for the registration of players with nurseries  from ten to 12 years of age. This change will be effective as from 1 January 2014. As things stood a youngster was entitled to change nurseries when he/she reaches the age of 12 or 14 against compensation for training and development. The new regulation does away with compensation payments for 12-year-olds as this will now be the minimum age for a child to officially join the MFA. The amendment has brought to an end an anomalous situation regarding the rights and aspirations of boys and girls who are now able to move freely from one nursery to another until the age of 12. This streamlining of regulations with those of FIFA has long been needed and will effectively turn a new page as regards the youngsters’ registration with the MFA and the transfer compensation.