Gowl: Ghall-Istrina 2010 Published on: 14-12-2010

Gowl Għall-Istrina 2010

A special All Stars match with the participation of the top local and foreign players from the BOV Premier League will this year be the highlight of the second edition of GOWL GĦALL-ISTRINA.

The event will be held on Tuesday 21st December, 2010 at the Hibernians Stadium. All proceeds from this event will go towards the annual fund-raising fixture, L-iStrina. The organising committee, chaired by Ġorġ Micallef, includes representatives from the Malta Football Association, the Premier League Standing Committee, the Youth FA and REPLAY, NET TV’s weekly football show. The event will bring together most partners involved in local football and at the same time help raise much-needed money in aid of L-iStrina. The All Stars match to kick off at 19:30 will be preceded by ten 7 v 7 exhibition matches on small pitches with the participation of all the ten Premier League Clubs’ Under 11 Nursery teams.

“What makes this initiative even more special is the fact that participants will raise money themselves through individual sponsors within their respective Premier League clubs”, said Mr Ġorġ Micallef. Youth Nurseries will also make their own contributions. Furthermore all proceeds from an auction of all the Premier League team’s shirts signed by the entire squad will be held during this Sunday’s edition of Replay on NET TV. Bidding will start at €50 for each shirt.

Entrance for the Gowl Għall-iStrina 2010 is free but the crowd present can make their donation in what promises to be a grand spectacle for the whole family. The organisers hope that businesses will also play a key role to maximise the sum collected.

MFA CEO, Bjorn Vassallo, also addressed the press conference. He said that the Malta Football Association gave their full backing and support to this initiative since it helped to raise more funds for the iStrina campaign while at the same time encouraged all Premier League clubs to work in unison with the organisers to hold a special event with the participation of the crème de la crème of Premier League football. Captain Mark Mallia and Marica Mizzi, on behalf of L-iStrina 2010, also addressed the press conference. While praising the organisers for the initiative, they encouraged the sporting public to attend this special event and help raise more money in aid of iStrina 2010.  They also announced that His Excellency the President of the Republic would meet the participants and kick-off the All Stars match.

Birkirkara and Valletta mentors, Paul Zammit and Jesmond Zerafa will team up to lead the local selection while Hibernians’ Mark Miller and Floriana’s Todor Raykov will guide the foreign players’ team. The Maltese team will include among their ranks current Footballer of the Year, Shaun Bajada and other international players such as Andrew Cohen, Roderick Briffa, Massimo Grima, Jonathan Caruana, Ivan Woods, Gareth Sciberras, Andrew Hogg, Carlo Mamo and Ryan Fenech. Top foreign talent on parade will include Denni dos Santos, Daniel Mariano Bueno, Alfred Effiong, Jorge Santos Silva, Paul McManus, Marcelo Pereira, Jackson Lima and Everton Pereira. FIFA officials have been appointed for this match. TeamSporT are the official technical sponsors for this event.

Compères for the night will be Ronald Briffa, Sarah Agius and Enzo Guzman. The latter together with Thea Garrett will be also entertaining the crowd present prior to the All Stars Match. This event is supported by AS Hibernians, General Soft Drinks Ltd, Sound Solutions Ltd, Best Print Co Ltd, Konica Minolta and International Merchants Co Ltd.