1 March 2017

FIFPro warns players against joining two Maltese clubs

FIFPro has warned foreign footballers against joining Mosta FC and Pembroke Athleta, after players told the world football players union that they had been housed in cramped conditions and were ignored or threatened when they complained about not being paid on time. The Malta Football Association (MFA) recently began an investigation after the Manager of Pembroke Athleta was detained by police for reportedly offering a Mosta FC player or official a bribe. ‘The major factors relating to whether a player reported being approached to fix a match were age, income, delay in payment of wages, and where the respondent played their football’, reads FIFPro’s Global Employment Report, which also found that 15.5% of Maltese players surveyed had been approached to fix a match – the eighth highest percentage of the 53 countries surveyed.FIFProPayDelayMF

FIFPro’s Global Employment Report also fond that most players on the Mediterranean island earn under US$2,000 per month and 79% are not paid on time. A teenage player from the US was one of five offered contracts in Malta after a US academy arranged for a trial game in Sweden. He told FIFPro that he had signed a contract with Pembroke Athleta with the intention of kick-starting a career in Europe and had spent over $4,000 on travel and accommodation, but his complaints about his €700 per month salary not being paid were apparently ignored.

“I tried complaining, but they really don’t case about foreign players”, he told FIFPro. “My words pretty much meant nothing to the club”.

FIFPro said it had also spoken to several Nigerians who said they were among 15 players squeezed into a four-bedroom house after signing to play for Mosta. Several complained about the cold because the house had no central heating.

Both Mosta FC and Pembroke Athleta are members of Malta’s 12-team Premier League. It is understood that under the competition’s rules, each club can only field seven foreign players per match, however due to the relative ease of securing a visa, many players from outside of the European Union choose to sign contracts with Maltese clubs.

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