Swieqi football club left fuming after promised land is given to Valletta FC instead

Swieqi United Football Club officials were left fuming at government plans to grant land in Pembroke to Valletta FC for new sports facilities.

Swieqi officials had been in talks with government for almost a decade over the transfer of the same land to their club before last week’s surprise announcement.

“Swieqi UFC had presented a detailed proposal for a sports complex on that same site, only to see their idea being regaled to Valletta FC instead,” sources close to the club told MaltaToday.

Last week, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that government will grant land valued at up to €100 million in Pembroke for the development of sports facilities, with a significant portion earmarked for Valletta FC. Abela said part of the land would be granted to Swieqi United.

MaltaToday understands that Swieqi UFC had first presented a project for the area in 2015 to then Parliamentary Secretary for Sport Chris Agius and subsequently to all ministers responsible for sport since then.

The club, which was founded in 2009, had by the 2015/16 season established a full structure, including men’s, women’s, nursery and futsal squads. Despite its growth, it operates with limited infrastructure and has only access to a seven-a-side pitch. Renting facilities to accommodate all squads and their academy costs the club around €80,000 a year, according people close to the club.

Given its success, the club embarked on what it had described as a sports and community project that would be made sustainable through sport tourism commercialisation. The land it identified in Pembroke is within the development zone and is scheduled for civic amenities, sport or employment use.

The club had also indicated it was open to incorporating local council facilities into the project and allow the primary school to use the facilities. But from the government all they got was procrastination.

“The plans were first considered, then the club was told to find a new site, and then was told to go back to the original site and amend the plans,” the sources said.

In October last year, the Swieqi club’s administration met Education Minister Clifton Grima, who indicated that he would push for the existing five-a-side pitch in the area to be expanded. The club had even informed its members that there was light at the end of the tunnel.

By January this year, rumours began circulating government was finalising plans for the site to be transferred to Swieqi UFC but the club could never confirm the matter.

When announcing the agreement with Valletta FC, the prime minister described the project but no detailed plans were published.

Sources privy to the ongoing arrangements told MaltaToday that around 60% of the land would be allocated to Valletta FC, 20% to Swieqi UFC and the remaining 20% would be allocated for civic amenities and other sport. It is unclear whether Swieqi will have access to a standard 11-a-side pitch and whether it will benefit from the commercialisation of the site.

So far, the club has not been given access to the plans and has not been formally approached, the source added, despite being mentioned during the public announcement.

Swieqi’s original vision was for a multi-sport project, bringing football, futsal, handball, volleyball and other disciplines under the umbrella of a sport village.

The club administration always made it clear they had no issue with sharing facilities with others, the source insisted. However, there are concerns over the introduction of another football club in what is already a densely populated footballing area.

“We are surrounded by sharks–Luxol, Pembroke, Melita, San Gwann—and now the biggest of them all, Valletta FC,” the source said.

For Valletta FC this has also been a decades-long saga. Twice the club was promised land by the government to develop a football pitch but each time the plans fell by the wayside. But the announcement that Malta’s arguably largest football club will now be given land for a project that Swieqi UFC had been lobbying for has left Swieqi’s football community livid.

“The irritation is not directed towards Valletta. It stands to reason all clubs should have proper facilities and so should Valletta. The club’s members are angry because even though the management has always been transparent with the government on the matter, it was left in the dark over the latest development,” the sources said.

When contacted, the club management declined to comment. A spokesperson said that apart from a phone call received from the minister an hour before the press conference, the club is unaware of what is happening and will comment once it is officially informed of developments.

‘Bullying and pay back is clearly evident’ – Swieqi mayor

Meanwhile, Swieqi Mayor Noel Muscat slammed government’s decision to grant land in Pembroke to Valletta at the expense of the locality’s football club. He said the council is infuriated with the “disrespectful” treatment that it received from central government.

“The sense of bullying and pay back is clearly evident,” he said.

Muscat expressed frustration at what he described as central government’s neglect for his locality.

“Millions are being spent on bombastic projects, but no money is found to purchase land adjacent to the local council premises for it to become an open space at road level and a regional art and cultural centre at semi basement level,” he said of another project proposed by the council that has remained in abeyance for years.

“Swieqi is choking. It lacks open spaces, has no sports facilities, no public land, no housing estates and no public schools. Basically, we only contribute to the state and receive nothing back,” Muscat insisted. “Enough is enough.”