Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/818637
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 3 MAY 2017 20 Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL 2017 MFA Awards nominees announced Agius, Fenech, Kristensen, Sciberras and Zerafa in race for top prize THE nominees have been announced ahead of the 2017 MFA Awards, to be held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre (MCC) on Sunday, May 14, 2017. Journalists, club coaches and captains, and coaches from the Malta FA Techni- cal Centre took part in the voting process which came to a close last Friday. The five contenders for the MFA Foot- baller of the Year Award, the most covet- ed individual honour in Maltese football, are Hibernians FC duo Andrei Agius and Bjorn Kristensen, Birkirkara FC players Gareth Sciberras and Joseph Zerafa, and Balzan FC midfielder Paul Fenech. Of the five finalists in this year's MFA Footballer of the Year category, only Paul Fenech has won the award in the past, pre- cisely in season 2012/13 when he was on the books of Birkirkara FC. All five nominees have represented Malta at senior level while the three finalists for the Young Player of the Year prize – Jean Borg (Valletta FC), Jurgen Degabriele (Hi- bernians FC) and Jake Grech (Ħamrun Spartans FC) – are members of the Malta Under-21 squad. The three shortlisted candidates in seven other categories – Coach of the Year, For- eign Player of the Year, BOV First Division Best Player, BOV Second Division Best Player, BOV Third Division Best Player, BOV Women's League Best Player and Best Youth League player – have also been an- nounced. The public will decide the winner of the 2016/17 best goal award. The MFA Awards Organising Committee will issue a shortlist of 10 goals in the com- ing days and each entry will be assigned an SMS number for voting purposes. The list will be eventually whittled down to five with the public voting remain- ing open until the night of May 14 when the winner will be announced during the eagerly-anticipated MFA Awards at the MCC. THE NOMINEES MFA FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR • Andrei Agius (Hibernians) • Paul Fenech (Balzan) • Bjorn Kristensen (Hibernians) • Gareth Sciberras (Birkirkara) • Joseph Zerafa (Birkirkara) COACH OF THE YEAR • Danilo Doncic (St Andrews) • Mark Miller (Hibernians) • Oliver Spiteri (Balzan) YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR • Jean Borg (Valletta) • Jurgen Degabriele (Hibernians) • Jake Grech (Hamrun Spartans) FOREIGN PLAYER OF THE YEAR • Alan Da Silva Souza (Balzan) • Bojan Kaljevic (Balzan) • Jackson Lima (Hibernians) BOV FIRST DIVISION BEST PLAYER • Erjon Beu (Lija Athletic) • Juninho Conceicao Cabral (Senglea Athletic) • Yuri De Jesus Messias (Naxxar Lions) BOV SECOND DIVISION BEST PLAYER • Giovanni Galea (Qrendi) • Tanaka Kumpei (Zejtun Corinthians) • Alan Tabone (Zejtun Corinthians) BOV THIRD DIVISION BEST PLAYER • Luke Galea (Dingli Swallows) • Ryan Sell (Kalkara) • Timothy Thomas (Kalkara) BOV WOMEN'S LEAGUE BEST PLAYER • Ann Marie Said (Birkirkara) • Stephania Farrugia (Birkirkara) • Shona Zammit (Hibernians) BEST YOUTH LEAGUE PLAYER • Jan Busuttil (Pietà Hotspurs) • Neil Frendo (Mosta) • Kurt Shaw (Sliema Wanderers) Roma's Strootman given two-game ban for diving AS Roma midfielder Kevin Stroot- man has been banned for two games for diving in their 3-1 derby defeat to Lazio, Serie A's discipli- nary committee said on Tuesday. Referee Daniele Orsato awarded a penalty after the 27-year-old fell in the penalty area, but he was retrospectively punished after replays showed he had not been touched by any Lazio player. "After moving the ball laterally with his foot, (Strootman) made an unnatural twist before falling to the ground..." Serie A said in a statement on their website (www. legaseriea.it). The Dutchman will miss key games against sixth-placed AC Milan on Sunday and against leaders Juventus on May 14. Roma are second in Serie A, nine points adrift of Juventus, but a point clear of Napoli in third. Muntari banned after racism complaint, Inter and Lazio sanctioned PESCARA midfielder Sulley Muntari has been banned for one game after he walked off the pitch at Cagliari on Sunday, hav- ing been booked for complaining to the referee about racist abuse in the crowd. Serie A's disciplinary commit- tee also said that no action would be taken against Cagliari because only around 10 supporters were involved in abusing Muntari. Meanwhile, Lazio and Inter Mi- lan were found guilty of racist be- haviour by their fans during oth- er games and warned they would face partial stadium closures if there was a repeat. The committee said that Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly was the target of racist chanting by Inter fans while Lazio supporters targeted AS Roma defender An- tonio Ruediger. Ghanaian midfielder Muntari said he suffered abuse through- out his side's 1-0 defeat at Cagli- ari but was booked for dissent when he asked the match official to stop the game. The 32-year-old walked off the pitch in protest shortly after- wards and was then given a sec- ond yellow card and sent off. The committee confirmed an automatic one-match ban, saying Muntari's second yellow was for "abandoning the pitch without the referee's permission". The committee described the chanting as deplorable but said it came from a part of the stadium occupied by 2,000 fans and that only around 10 were involved, not enough to warrant a punish- ment against the club under Serie A rules. It said that around 80 percent of the 7,000 Inter fans in one of the upper tier sections of the San Siro aimed insults at Senegal de- fender Koulibaly and a similar number of fans in one section of Lazio's Curva Nord aimed insults at Germany's Ruediger. In both cases, the tribunal or- dered the sectors to be closed for one game if there was a repeat in- cident within the next year. Earlier, the world players' un- ion FIFPro had called on Serie A to rescind Muntari's first yellow card. "We urge Italian authorities to hear Muntari's version of events, investigate why the situation was mismanaged, and take firm ac- tion to ensure this never happens again," said FIFPro in a state- ment. "Muntari was well within his rights to approach referee Dan- iele Minelli, as the first point of reference, to make his grievances known and seek a solution... "Professional footballers should expect to be adequately protect- ed by the relevant authorities."