The Malta FA has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Malta Women’s National Team, represented by the Malta Football Players Association. This MoU underlines the two associations’ commitment towards achieving full compliance with the UEFA Minimum Standards Framework for Women's National Teams in Europe by June 2024.

In a briefing held last week, this MoU was presented to the players of the Malta Women's National Team. The MoU encompasses the ongoing UEFA Nations League competition and aligns with the recently issued UEFA Minimum Standards for Women's National Teams. The standards of the UEFA Framework cover a wide range of critical aspects, including coaching, training, medical care, player welfare, remuneration, accommodation, and protection in the event of pregnancy among others. This comprehensive framework, developed in close consultation with players, coaches, associations, and FIFPRO Europe, represents a significant step towards establishing a consistent standard across European countries.

The latest MoU signed between the Malta FA and MFPA builds on the foundation of previous agreements that covered recent national team competitions, underscoring the Malta FA's and MFPA unwavering commitment to advancing women's football and the national team's dedication to international level.

Furthermore, last month the Executive Board of the Malta Football Association approved also a set of regulations that transposes a number of FIFA provisions related to female players. These set the minimum standards for protection of female professional players in the event of pregnancy, and special rights during and after the pregnancy, including the right to return to work and breastfeeding.

Dr Angelo Chetcuti, General Secretary of the Malta FA who sat on UEFA’s Working Group on the formulation of the Minimum Standards for Women's National Teams, expressed his satisfaction at the fact that the Malta FA is among the first national associations to embrace these agreements. He stated, "In a landscape where the level of development of Women’s football varies significantly, it is a positive step forward to see that at national team level there will be minimum standards.  The Malta FA has in the past years made it a strategic priority to sustain its level of support to its national teams. For this reason, we already reach the standards expected and we hope to continue building on them”. Angelo Chetcuti 

Carlo Mamo, General Secretary of the Malta Football Players Association and representative of the national team players, conveyed the Association's appreciation in entering these discussions on behalf of the team and thanked the Malta FA for their collaboration as well as the players for entrusting them to negotiate on their behalf. “This is an example of what can be achieved when stakeholders work together, embracing a player-centric perspective that actively involves the player voice. Our players, who devote so much time and energy to the women’s game, often with little reward or compensation at club-level, must be at the heart of this process and through the players association we managed to achieve that. The women’s national team players will significantly benefit from these important changes that provide safeguards and improved conditions and will certainly have a positive impact on the women’s national team in general." Carlo Mamo