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105 members were eligible to vote but only 85 voted. There were 67 votes in favour, 15 against and 3 were invalid. It was interesting to note that among the Premier clubs - only five did as it was decided in the Standing Committee and left the hall - Valletta, Hibernians, Hamrun, Sliema and Naxxar. Floriana, in a letter by George Carbone, declared their support and trust in Dr Mifsud. The delegates and council members of another three clubs - Birkirkara, Rabat, Pietà - voted while the Council member of Naxxar and the delegate of Xghajra also casted their vote. The Council member of Xghajra was not present. All the Council members of the First, Second and Third Division clubs casted their votes, together with the 13 Council members and the four delegates representing member associations.
The meeting, chaired by Senior vice-president Carmelo Bartolo, lasted five hours with the first speaker being Dr Joe Mifsud. Mifsud started by saying that he has never been contested as president but still, he always called for a secret vote which he won with a large majority. This was the first time such a meeting was held as he accused Norman Darmanin Demajo of trying to destroy him and to trying to play the role of president. He said that this has led to people who are not used to working together or others who do not form part of the association, like Dr George Abela, to join forces and start a battle against the president. Dr Mifsud admitted that when the association was wrong when itasked clubs to contribute for the building the Centenary Stadium. In fact, after that clubs were told not to contribute any more and in the near future, the MFA will be paying back the clubs.
Dr Mifsud gave his version of facts regarding the several allegations put forward by the treasurer and the Premier League clubs. He said that the only contract that he signed on his own was the television rights' contract with CWL. He said that according to Art. 31, he had every right to do so, and that Art. 150 and 154 (ii) were there to safeguard the good of the association. All he did was for the good of the association and of football in Malta. The president said that he signed the contract with CWL to guarantee a good income. He said that if there was someone who could provide a better deal, he would do his best to cancel the contract with CWL. The (Lm10,000) allowance he receives annually as the president of the association is something which was agreed within the Executive Committee. Dr Mifsud then launched accusations to former president Dr George Abela and former national coach and current MOC Director of Sport Pippo Psaila. He concluded by saying that Darmanin Demajo had said that one of them had to leave and the result of this vote of confidence would give a clear indication in whom, the members have confidence.
The next speaker was treasurer Norman Darmanin Demajo. NDD said that his was not a battle for power, as he was not interested in becoming president of the MFA or taking an important role in UEFA or FIFA. Darmanin Demajo said that the expenditure of Lm70,000 for the Centenary celebrations was never mentioned in the Executive Committee. He criticised Dr Mifsud for giving a direct order to Italian firm TCM for the steel-work on the East Stand. NDD accused the president of being arrogant with clubs. For example, Second and Third Division clubs were being charged Lm40 for each league game to play at the Centenary Stadium or otherwise they had to return to the Pace Grasso Ground. He continued by accusing Dr Mifsud that the date of the contract regarding the Bayern Munich friendly had been changed and called for the setup of a Board of Verification to investigate this, among other matters. NDD said that he and Dr Mifsud had committed a mistake in not making the matter of allowances public since everyone had the right to know about it.
Representing Premier clubs, Joe Caruana Curran said there were too much doubts shadowing the association. For this reason, it is of utmost importance to set up a Board of Verification to investigate these matters. The association's money is the clubs' money after all and the president cannot do whatever he wants with them. Caruana Curran said that they came to know that Lm22,000 were being paid for salaries to the top officials, five years after they were first paid. He said that Lm10,000 cannot be considered as an allowance by a salary. He had no objection for allowances being paid to these officials but they had every right to know. After all, they had voted for these officials while they thought they were there on a voluntary basis.
Joe Caruana Curran then presented a TV rights contract which is much more advantageous than the one signed by Dr Mifsud with CWL. In fact this contact is worth 1.5 million Swiss francs. He said that this gives a clear indication that over the past years, either George Abela and Joe Mifsud were not able to negotiate well or CWL were stealing the association by providing poor contracts. Caruana Curran compared figures between the contract signed with CWL and the contract they were presenting. For a competitive match with Germany, CWL offered Lm400,000 - their contract offered Lm900,000; for a game with Italy, CWL offered Lm100,000 - their contract offered Lm625,000; for a game with England, CWL offered Lm75,000 - their contract offered Lm500,000 and for a game with Turkey, CWL offered Lm5,000 while their contract offered Lm75,000. He continued by saying that no TV right company would pay Lm100,000 for a friendly game between a club and a national team. Caruana Curran questioned whether this was compensation for something.
The MFA President that he was not ready to accept the set-up of a Board of Verification as this could lead to a ridiculous situation where each time there is a rumour about corruption, this has to investigate. But reacting to the TV rights contract offered by the Premier clubs, he said that he will stand up by his words and accept it if the figures mentioned in the contract are guaranteed. Dr Mifsud concluded by saying that a vote of confidence in him meant a vote of no confidence in Darmanin Demajo, following objections by some members, he said that it is up to NDD to decide about his future.
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