The Malta Premier League (MPL) has issued a formal statement addressing recent criticism from the Youth FA President regarding the distribution of UEFA Solidarity Funds, clarifying that the current allocation is in line with new UEFA regulations.
According to the MPL, UEFA’s updated guidelines stipulate that solidarity funds are intended solely for top-flight clubs that do not qualify for the group stages of European competitions. In Malta’s case, this refers specifically to clubs competing in the Premier League.
The statement also highlighted that these Premier League clubs are permitted, though not obliged, to share up to 15% of the funds with clubs in the second tier, namely the Challenge League.
“The Premier League clubs collectively decided to redistribute 12.5% of their solidarity funds to the Challenge League,” the MPL noted. “This is the highest percentage shared by any European league under the new UEFA framework.”
The MPL’s response appears to be a direct rebuttal of the Youth FA President’s recent public comments, which suggested dissatisfaction with how the funds were being managed and distributed within Maltese football.
While the MPL did not specifically mention the content of the Youth FA President’s remarks, the press release was clearly intended to reaffirm its commitment to transparency and compliance with UEFA’s updated funding criteria.
As the debate continues over the best way to support grassroots and lower-tier football in Malta, this clarification sheds light on the structural limits of UEFA’s funding policies and the degree of discretion held by Premier League clubs.
This reply follows our story published earlier today, as Norman Darmanin Demajo, President of the Youth FA and former two-term head of the Malta Football Association, chose to focus his intervention not on the sweeping reforms aimed at protecting young players but rather on changes to UEFA solidarity fund distribution.
