ABSTRACT
The previous chapter – on football presidential big-men – revealed an enduring tension between the clubs and their ambitions, and the MFA, as personified in Joe Mifsud, its President since 1992. Mifsud might be considered a ‘super bigman’, who like other MFA presidents before him has not only consolidated his power and prestige within Malta, but also expanded his influence to an international stage. Jo-Jo Mifsud-Bonnici, MFA President from 1968 until 1982, had been elected to the UEFA Disciplinary Committee through his ties with the Italian Arturio Franchi, and George Abela, his successor and Mifsud’s predecessor, had narrowly missed election on to the UEFA Executive. By 1999, Mifsud sat on no fewer than eight committees of both FIFA and UEFA. Sitting on the executive committees of both of these organisations, Mifsud also chaired the UEFA Referee’s Committee and FIFA’s Committee for Legal Matters. He was also FIFA’s vice-chair of the Players Status Committee and a member of three other FIFA committees – National Associations, Youth and Security, and Fair Play. These external loyalties and ambitions were to bring Mifsud into direct conflict with the member clubs – and presidents – of the MFA, and with other members of the MFA committee, particularly his one-time friend and MFA Treasurer, Norman Darmanin-Demajo.
