We are already nearing the beginning of October and all the MFA major leagues and also some of the minor ones are all well in progress - the new football season can be said to be in full swing and well underway.

As it is the custom of Malta Football Association, when the end of the month is near, an Instructional Meeting is held for the Malta F.A. referees. The first instructional meeting for the Season 2007/08 was held on Monday the 24^th of September 2007 and as tradition wants, this first meeting was a chance for our referees to meet the President of the Malta F.A. – Dr. Joseph Mifsud.

Dr. Mifsud every year insists that he meets our referees at the beginning of each season, and this year was no different. He spoke about several different topics with regards to the refereeing sector in Malta and the improvements that have been made in the last few years in the said sector. This can be shown by the fact that a number of member associations like M.A.F.A. (starting again this year) and the Y.F.A. constantly turn the Malta F.A. to utilize their referees for their leagues and that all competitive matches are officiated by M.F.A. referees! He continued to say that from what he saw in the season so far he was very satisfied with the results that our referees were getting and he also encouraged our referees to keep up the good work done so far.

Dr. Mifsud also pointed out the fact that referees are lacking on the island and that it is down to our referees to recruit new faces in the refereeing sector. He then explained that this would be beneficial both to the F.A. and also to them, as the number of matches on their shoulders would be more evenly distributed with the chance of some rest; this being both important and beneficial to the referee.

The Malta F.A. president also mentioned the equipment bought for the new fitness test adopted by FIFA. Dr. Mifsud said that even though we are a small country with a tiny football association, we are still avant-garde, as the Malta F.A. was one of the very first Football Associations to adopt this fitness test for its referees. A considerable sum of money was spent to buy all the necessary equipment for the FIFA test, but the President pointed out that this was money well spent as it was an investment for the F.A. and also for its referees. He also discussed the prospect of having the radio system as soon as the equipment is fool proof, as there are still some problems regarding this.

Dr. Mifsud ended his speech wishing our referees a very good season 2007/08 and he reminded our referees that if they have any problems during the course of the season, they should contact the mentors provided to them by the F.A. as certain problems can affect the referee’s performance throughout the season. His wish is that this season would be even better than the previous one, reminding our referees that he has faith in them and their ability