A future Golden Ball winner could be playing in Malta next month

 

It is certainly one of the biggest sporting events ever to be held in Malta. Not to mention that it will be the highest level at which a Maltese national football team - in all categories - would have ever competed. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Cesc Fabregas, and Wayne Rooney have taken their first steps in past editions.

The list of teams competing in the UEFA Under 17 Championship finals being held in Malta between the 9th and the 21st May is complete, and the 2 groups drawn. The so-called 'Elite Round' of qualifiers has already reserved its share of judgments. Among the decisive fixtures, there was an England vs. Italy, a preview of the senior level World Cup match in 2 months' time. For the record, England qualified at the expense of a star-studded Italy following a 2-1 win.

As host nation, Malta will have the right to join the other 7 finalists in May. We have been drawn to play England, The Netherlands, and Turkey in the group stage. Not an easy task. Not at all.

To get to this stage, these 7 had to go through two successive qualifying stages. Just to get an idea, only once did Malta manage to pass through one - the first qualifying round, in 2010. It was the first Malta side to progress through a round of a UEFA youth competition after obtaining a 2-1 win against The Netherlands (that on its own made history) and a 0-0 draw against Andorra. That team included players who are today playing Premier League football, such as Zach Muscat (Birkirkara) and Sacha Borg (Floriana).

I hope that a sense of perspective is kept when the zealous pundits start fretting to assess Malta's performance. A lot of attention has been given to the group of players lucky enough to make the squad for the tournament, some of which have also made it to clubs overseas. Yet, these kids have a mammoth task in front of them, a task which calls for the maximum support the Maltese public could give them.

The logistical strain on the MFA is huge. The opportunity, however, is unique. The tournament will be shown live on Eurosport and it will be the last one with an eight-team format before the expansion to a 16-nation event in Bulgaria next season. So another occasion to host such a high-profile competition will be rare to come by.

Who will be the stars this time round? Will a future Golden Ball winner be gracing our pitches?

The most reputable club messes up (and they're not the only ones)

The club was accused of breaching FIFA rules which prohibit international transfers of players under 18. The investigation on Barcelona started last year when no less than 6 youth players were banned. Their transfers were brought to light by FIFA's web-based 'Transfer Matching System' - a database to which all association and clubs in the world (including Malta) have access to encode transfers of players from one country to another.

Barcelona are certainly not short of admirers of their football. I am one of them. However, they were recently in the news for the wrong reasons when they were handed a 14-month ban on transfers. That covers two transfer windows: this summer and January 2015.

Pundits are busy assessing how this could affect Barca’s chances on the pitch next season. I am less inclined to do so. Firstly, because the decision is subject to appeal, and therefore possibly changed. Secondly, because even if it doesn’t, Barcelona is not exactly lacking in quality players as to be in some dire need of inward transfers.

Rather, I have an inkling that transfers of under-age players is a widespread phenomenon and that such a high-profile case could be an opportunity for people to start taking notice of it. In some cases it may amount to nothing short of trafficking.

The rationale behind these rules is to protect minors from displacement from their country of origin. The players concerned in this case hailed from as far as South Korea, Cameroon, and Nigeria.

There are of course exceptions to the rule. For example, when the player’s parents move to the country in which the new club is located for reasons not linked to football (say, one of the parents moves for professional reasons). Another applies where the player lives no further than 50km from a national border and moves to a club in the neighbouring country within 50km of that border.

Special conditions apply within the EU for players aged 16-18. Such transfers are allowed only if the new club provides the player accommodation and adequate football education coupled withacademic/vocational education that would allow the player to pursue a career other than football.

Beyond big clubs and elite football, the movement of players (including minors) is huge. Hundreds of players seek better pastures in lower leagues all over Europe each year, especially from South America and Africa. But not only. Young players move within Europe as well to try to make a living out of football, at the risk of ending up stranded in a country they do not know when things go wrong.

It is not easy to determine what is more favourable to a promising young player. A transfer may present the golden opportunity to pursue a career in football. There is also the possibility, however, that the kid falls by the wayside and into oblivion in case s/he doesn’t make it. My impression is that the latter cases are far more numerous and make less headlines.

Every international transfer involving a minor is subject to the approval of a subcommittee of FIFA’s Players’ Status Committee. “The interest in protecting the appropriate and healthy development of a minor as a whole must prevail over purely sporting interests,” the Committee was quoted saying in FIFA’s statement. The Spanish FA, through which reporting of similar transfers should be made, was also reprimanded and fined.

The big question is how many athletes are really affected by such poaching or head-hunting practices? What happens to the ones who never make it to the cut-throat world of big stadia? Perhaps this is slightly more relevant than trying to decipher whether Barcelona will be able to challenge for the title next year without being able to buy more players.

The UEFA Nations cash cow

This post was featured on maltatoday.com.mt 

If your wife complains that there's too much football on TV, just don't read this post.

A new (additional) competition for national teams has been announced by UEFA this week. The 'Nations League' will be played every 2 years replacing most international friendly matches as of 2018.

I won't go into the convoluted format being proposed. The innovation lies mainly in the fact that national teams will be split into four different divisions according to their ranking, with the possibility of being promoted or relegated. Mini-tournaments will be played between groups of 3 or 4 teams, with the winners then playing for the title of each division and the possibility of earning a place in the European Championship and possibly the World Cup finals. Complicated? Let go.

Judging by current rankings, Malta would be playing in the bottom division with the other 'minnows' (but also a few not-so-small countries). This gives competition a whole new meaning for our national team. It will have more opportunities to go out on the pitch to win games rather than simply to mitigate the damage, as is often the case nowadays.

The idea looks promising. It should inject some much-needed interest into local football and a sense of belonging vis-à-vis our national team. Let's face it, how many times do we go to the stadium with a real conviction that the boys in red could win points? The occurrence is very rare, usually once or twice in each qualifying campaign.

I believe this could also be a good opportunity for the development of the local game. The team could start preparing matches with a slightly more adventurous game plan.  

The Nations League will not replace the traditional qualifiers for both the European Championships and the World Cup. Another good compromise, which ensures that we will still enjoy the odd big-name fixture, such as the upcoming match against Italy in September.

The move was (also) attractive from a financial point of view, there's no two ways about it. This competition will reshift the balance between club and national team football. The big bucks being made from the Champions League could be replicated via national teams. A different set of allegiances, banking on national fervour, but with the same potential for television networks.

This aspect should also work out well for us though. As of the Euro 2016 qualifiers, UEFA has started to sell TV rights collectively for the entire competition (rather than having each national association negotiate rights for its own home games) - this should bring better returns to the Malta FA and other small countries sharing the same pot with the big guns.

UEFA President Michel Platini is certainly banking on this grand scheme and the unanimous support of the European football family in view of next year's race for the FIFA presidency. He is still to announce whether he will take on the ever-present Sepp Blatter. But let's leave that for another time.

Despite a million problems, football remains in demand. Let's just hope we're not heading towards an overkill.

Il-globalizzazzjoni fir-riżultati

Kien hemm żmien meta fil-kompetizzjonijiet Ewropej kont tara jaslu lin-Nottingham Forest, lill-Hamburg, Ipswich, Aberdeen, Sampdoria...

Illum? Għodduhom, u taraw li mhux aktar minn 32 tim irnexxielhom jagħmluha tal-anqas sal-kwarti tal-finali fl-aħħar 10 snin! U erbgħa minnhom tfaċċaw darba; erbgħa oħra rnexxielhom darbtejn. Jibqa' l-miżerja ta' 24 tim, li bejniethom jilagħbu għall-unuri sena wara sena.

Bħal fl-ekonomija, fejn 99% tal-ġid jinsab għand 1% tal-popolazzjoni, fil-futbol sirna rridu nikkuntentaw naraw nofs tużżana timijiet jitqabdu sena wara l-oħra.

Kemm taħsbu li jista' jdum ikampa l-futbol hekk? It-tlielaq tal-Formula 1 għaddew minn ċiklu simili: snin li fihom id-domanda splodiet, hekk kif iffjorixxa l-prodott televiżiv, biex illum l-udjenza dinjija waqgħet b'mod drastiku.

Forsi għax it-tim favorit tiegħi mhux fost dawk in-nofs tużżana, imma nixtieq nerġa' nara tim bħall-Vicenza (tiftakruhom fis-semi finali tat-Tazza tat-Tazzi kontra ċ-Chelsea?), il-Parma....jew il-Milan! :)

Iż-żraben li jmiss

Iltqajt ma' dan l-artiklu fuq L'Equipe li janalizza l-aħħar battalja - waħda minn ħafna - bejn in-Nike u l-Adidas. Mid-dehra t-tnejn li huma qed jippruvaw ikunu tal-ewwel li joħorġu b'idea għal tip ta' żarbun tal-futbol ġdid.

Nike Magista u Adidas Primeknit huma ż-żewġt iżraben fir-ritratt. Aktar ifakkruk fil-basketball, imma mid-dehra diġà ppruvawhom xi plejers kbar fit-training. Fosthom Mario Götze. Mhux insinifikanti meta tqis li l-Adidas huma mhux biss sponsors eterni tal-Bayern, imma anki shareholders.

Jidher li għadu mhux deċiż meta se jitnedew fil-verità. In-Nike jinsabu f'fażi aktar avvanzata u hemm min qed  jgħid li nistgħu naraw dawn iż-żraben anki fiċ-Champions League. M'għandniex xi ngħidu, l-akbar vetrina hi t-Tazza tad-Dinja (Cristiano Ronaldo, li huwa fost l-immaġni ewlenin tan-Nike, diġà qal li mhux se jkun qed juża dan iż-żarbun). 

Skont l-istess ariklu, Ronaldo s'issa akkumula €148 miljun matul il-karriera tiegħu, €2 miljuni aktar minn Messi.

Il-proporzjon tal-flus li jaqla' Ibrahimovic mal-goals li jiskurja huwa ta' €394,595 għal kull goal.

U bilħaqq...il-Magista mistenni jkun jiswa xi €275. Ara meta tifel jibda jgħid lil missieru, "Pa, irrid żarbun tal-futbol ġdid!"