Muscat only candidate for top football post / Malta News Briefing – Saturday 25 June 2022

Updated 1415

The Malta Professional Football Clubs Association said that former PM Joseph Muscat is the only candidate for the position of chairman of the Malta Professional Football Clubs Association. In a statement on Saturday afternoon, the MPFCA said that it had no intention of appointing a full-time chief executive officer but is planning to install a chairman from outside the Premier League clubs to help out in the transition phase that is stipulated by the Malta FA strategy. Earlier, Jean Claude Micallef, a former Labour MP had expressed his intention to contest the post but has now apparently backed down.

Updated 1245

Former Labour MP to contest Muscat for football post

The football clubs representation saga has taken another twist with former Labour MP – previously also NET TV presenter Jean Claude Micallef announcing his intention to challenge former PM Joseph Muscat for presidency of the organisation. On Facebook, in a less then subtle hint at Muscat’s controversial political history, Micallef stated that he could not let the reputation of Malta’s football clubs suffer. “I took this step today because I can never allow the reputation of Maltese clubs to be tarnished,” he wrote on Facebook. “This association is set up for individuals to serve it and improve it and not any other way. I have heard you and reacted with respect towards the footballing family that I am proud to form part of,” Micallef added.

Labour MEP says recent abortion story shocked many

Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer questioned Malta’s abortion ban after an American woman was unable to request a termination of her pregnancy to safeguard her health.The Labour MEP argued that many people he spoke to who are not usually in favour of abortion were similarly shocked by the situation. “Their take was that, in this case, the foetus is obviously dying. Once it dies, there’s a big chance the mother might end up dying too. I think that knowing this, even people who tended to be very strongly anti-choice seemed to be shocked.”

Covid-19 Update

456 cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday, taking the tally to 4,666, practically doubling in a week.

Morning Briefing

PM says EU must address sustainability of sanctions

Prime Minister Robert Abela told European leaders that the EU must address the sustainability and impact of sanctions against Russia while attending several EU-level meetings in Brussels this week.At a European Council meeting, EU leaders agreed to grant Ukraine and Moldova candidate status on a number of conditions after they applied for membership into the bloc. Leaders also agreed to grant Georgia this status as soon as it meets certain criteria listed by the European Commission.”Sanctions are an important and effective tool but we must address their sustainability and impact,” the Prime Minister remarked. (Maltatoday)

AirMalta adds another plane to cope with demand
Air Malta announced today that following significant demand for air travel post Covid, it has leased in an additional aircraft to be able to offer added services from July up to October 2022. The Airbus A320 aircraft is being wet leased from Getjet. Speaking about this growth, Air Malta’s Chief Commercial Officer, Roy Kinnear, said, “It’s encouraging to see air travel rebound strongly and demand from customers who have longed to travel again, rising sharply,” Kinnear said. (The Malta Independent)

Covid-19 Update

479 Covid-19 cases were reported on Friday.Two more deaths were also registered, taking the total to 740.