UEFA’s thumbs-up for MFA’s work in women’s football

The Malta Football Association’s on-going drive to promote women’s football in the country has been recognised by UEFA as a best-practice example in the UEFA Women’s Football Development report.

Re-investing the financial assistance received from UEFA in some key sectors, like coach education, youth festivals and an elite academy for girls, plus positive branding of the women’s game, saw UEFA visit Malta last month to prepare a feature on the development of women’s football in Malta.

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The UEFA crew, which also included two professional camerapersons, filmed a training session of the MFA Girls Academy at the Mtarfa ground as well as an Under-13 festival in Għargħur.

“Women’s football projects a very positive image for the game,” Malta FA General Secretary Angelo Chetcuti said in his interview with uefa.org.

“Our game needs to be much more accessible, and gender balance is one of the areas that needs to be improved on. UEFA’s support has been crucial. It helps us fund coach education and our academy, as well as our competitions.”

Martina, 12, shared her story on how she was selected to form part of the girls’ academy, alongside 50 promising young players who train on a weekly basis.

“Last summer, we had a summer camp organised by the MFA women’s national academy; I had the trials and I got chosen by our coaches, and that’s where I started my career as a football player.”

Martina continued: “Football helps me to feel confident, because it shows that we are able to speak up because women are equal to men, and there isn’t any difference.”