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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 MAY 2024 6 INTERVIEW Maria Azzopardi: 'New premier league format just first step in wider reform' MALTA Football Association vice-president Ma- ria Azzopardi insists the new Premier league for- mat is just the first step in a wider reform of the country's top tier football competition. Azzopardi sits down for an interview with Malt- aToday a month after being elected as the MFA's first ever female vice-president. Her election to the association's administration comes at an exciting time for female football and at a controversial junction for Malta's top men's league. A former football player herself, Azzopardi says having a woman in the role highlights the sport's evolution in the women's game, and shows the MFA is keeping up with the times. "Women's football is on the rise, and we want to show that a woman can hold this important role," Azzopardi tells me in the boardroom of the Mille- nium Stand at the Ta' Qali national stadium. But her work will also go beyond just women's football. She is tasked, together with the MFA's other top executives, with implementing the as- sociation's strategy and youth development pro- gramme. Maltese football enters a new era with a radically changed premier league format that was unveiled earlier this month by the Malta Premier League (MPL) and its chairman Joseph Muscat. The new format comes into effect in the new season. The format has received wide criticism for its unorthodox set-up, which traces its roots to South American football. Muscat and the MPL insist the format will help in keeping the league exciting all the way to the playoff and final games. These cru- cial games will eventually determine who is rele- gated and who is crowned ultimate champion. Azzopardi insists the new format is just one of the many changes which are expected to come in- to force in the coming seasons. She says that the format alone will do little to improve the sport lo- cally. "On whether one agrees or not with the format is debatable. One has to see what will happen in practice. This is not the first time changes have been implemented in the premier division. One must see whether the results are achieved," she says in a cautious tone. Azzopardi says it is an ongoing project, and cer- tain aspects like organisation and commerciali- sation will also be handed over to the MPL. "The project is still evolving, and I feel it is still early to determine its success or failure." With the Vitals inquiry concluded and passed to the Attorney General, there is growing expecta- tion that Joseph Muscat will eventually be charged. I ask Azzopardi whether this could have a repu- tational impact on football, given Muscat's role in the MPL. The vice-president is adamant that any negative circumstances should not be linked to the MFA. "Whatever happens beyond football, the country has its own institutions which have their sperate procedures," she says. I ask her about the disconnect that exists between the success of the male and female senior nation- al teams. In the last season, the women's team secured a historic promotion to League B in the Nations League, while the men's team continues to underwhelm on the international stage. But for Azzopardi, looking at short-term results does not truly reflect the progress the teams have made. "When it comes to men's football, I don't think it's a question of regression. If you look at the past games, the national team has played football pow- er houses like Italy and England. In Malta, like abroad, unfortunately, we only look at the results," she says. Maria Azzopardi was recently elected as the first female vice-president of the Malta Football Association. She sits down with KARL AZZOPARDI to discuss the new Premier league format, the different fortunes of the women's and men's national teams and Joseph Muscat.