Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1181922
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 NOVEMBER 2019 NEWS The Parliamentary Service invites applications for the posts of PARLIAMENTARY USHER I (Call HR 1/2019 - Jobsplus Permit 87/2019) and TECHNICAL SUPPORT OFFICERS (ICT/AV) (Call HR 2/2019 - Jobsplus Permit 519/2017) at the House of Representatives. Details concerning the conditions, duties, eligibility requirements, selection and submission of applicants can be found in the call for applications which may be downloaded from the website of the Parliament of Malta at www.parlament.mt or collected from the Finance and Administration Section, House of Representatives, Freedom Square, Valletta VLT 1111. Applications, together with the relative documentation, will be received by the Parliamentary Service by no later than noon (CET), Friday, 17 November 2019, or submitted electronically on dcs.parlament@parlament.mt. KARL AZZOPARDI SEVERAL BOV Premier League clubs have failed to pay their player's wages, as the tournament heads into its fourth month of the 2019/20 season. The issue was brought to light in a Facebook post penned by the Malta Football Players Association (MFPA), where it claimed that a good number of players from four different premier division clubs have not been paid any salaries this season. "A good number of players in Malta's Premier Division have not yet been paid any salaries four months into the season, with some still wait- ing for last season's salaries," the association said. According to the Malta Football Association's (MFA) 'Financial Fair Play' rules, by the 16 August, clubs must submit proof that all employ- ees, including players, have been paid their dues for the previous season. Players must also sign a doc- ument confirming their pay- ment as proof. When clubs have not paid their dues, rules allow for an extension to be granted, as long as the player agrees in writing. This situation is not unu- sual according to the MFPA, which stated that a good number of players do so out of their own free will. "However, it has recently come to our attention that a number of clubs are abusing this system with no appar- ent repercussions at all," the MFPA said. MFPA Deputy Secretary Konrad Sultana said that over 20 players, hailing from four different clubs have come forward with complaints to the association. He also said that the players are both Maltese and foreign- ers. Sultana also said that quite a few of the players are still owed salaries from last sea- son, while having not signed an extension allowing for the delay in payment. Sultana refused to divulge details about the clubs in question, but said that if the situation persists, "the media will be the first to know". Asked how the MFPA will be proceeding, Sultana said that it is currently in discus- sions with the MFA and the clubs, and said that the as- sociation's first steps will be that of finding a diplomatic and fair solution. "We are following their sit- uation. We will see how the clubs will react, and then we will proceed," Sultana said. MFA President Bjorn Vas- sallo said that clubs are cur- rently undergoing financial monitoring by the licensing department of the associa- tion, with the licensing core process starting soon after in January. The MFA is author- ised by UEFA to act as licen- sor for the granting of UEFA and domestic licenses and is audited by the European football body regularly. "We are currently at the monitoring period to en- sure dues and commitments from last season are settled. If clubs do not pay their dues by the stipulated deadline, they will be sanctioned by the Licensing Board, in easy terms, they will have points deduction from the following football season. As from the new year the core processing starts which will enable clubs to get their license or other- wise," Vassallo said. "It must be said that from the introduction of the li- censing and the financial fair play regulations, the financial situation of the clubs has im- proved drastically but there are still a small number of clubs which spend more than they earn and in doing so they get into financial problems which might threaten their long-term survival. Excessive spending is not justified, not even to keep the club com- petitive. The Malta FA will follow the rules like it did in recent years when various lo- cal clubs received heavy sanc- tions due to overdue payables and debts," warned the MFA boss. Vassallo said that the MFA has already acted on simi- lar cases in the past, with a points deduction given to Marsaxlokk, Zurrieq and Flo- riana. Premier league clubs fall back on salaries Church's apology for 1960s interdiction MALTA'S archbishop carried out the blessing of the cemetery graves where Labour politicians and activists interdicted by the Maltese Church in the 1960s were interred. Popularly known as the 'inter- diction' (l-interdett), occupants of the formerly unconsecrated ground derisively named 'the rubbish tip' (il-mizbla) include the Labour politician and writer Guze Ellul Mercer, author of Maltese classic Leli ta' Haz- Zghir. Archbishop Charles Sciclu- na announced in a homily he would bless the graves of "those who had a wall erected between them and those who died at peace with the Church. Today that wall has fallen. And I pray for forgiveness of the wall that was built between us." PN leader Adrian Delia, whose party had historically been silent on the interdiction, welcomed the Archbishop's statement. "An important step form the Archibishop. This was a wound which left a scar so many years later. Despite our difference we are all Maltese. This gesture is appreciated by everyone. Let's build on it." Guze Ellul Mercer passed away in 1962 under excommunica- tion from the Catholic Church. In January 1961, at the height of the Catholic Church's feud with the Labour Party, the dioc- esan commission issued a circu- lar read out in all churches con- demning the MLP's affiliation with the Socialist International and the Afro-Asian Peoples Sol- idarity Organisation. In a bid to wield its power over the God-fearing masses, it declared a sin the reading of Labour newspapers and the at- tendance of MLP meetings. At the time, the Church still played an important role in Maltese society. But as Pope John XXIII opened up the Vatican to a new spring with the Vatican Council II, declar- ing it no longer a mortal sin to vote for the communists, it was archbishop Michael Gonzi who declared it a mortal sin for so- cialist material to be read and propagated. The circular specifically said: "Mgr Archbishop believes that in today's circumstances, one had to condemn with all force, the following actions: (a) the grave offence by word of mouth or in writing or in actions against the Archbishop or the clergy. (b) Supporting the leaders of MLP, until they insist of battling out with the Church and they keep contact with socialists, commu- nists and AAPSO…. No one can print, write, sell, buy, deliver or read these [Labour-published] newspapers without falling in mortal sin." Archbishop Charles Scicluna blessing the grave of Guze Ellul Mercer. The section of the Addolarata cemetery was derisively known as 'il-Mizbla' or 'the rubbish tip'