Champions Hamrun Spartans will be facing newly-promoted Zabbar St. Patrick in match-day 1 of the 360Sports Malta Premier League 2024/25. The draws for the Opening Round were held at the Centenary Stadium on Wednesday.
Floriana take on Melita, Sliema Wanderers meet Mosta, Marsaxlokk face Gzira United, Hibernians take on Naxxar Lions while Birkirkara face Balzan in the other matches.
Addressing the media, Premier League Limited chairman Alan Abela explained that for the first time, the draws were being held through a custom-made computer algorithm which separated the so-called A matches, involving teams finishing in the top-six places, as much as possible so that there is only one or two direct clashes between such teams on a particular match day.
However the fixtures for match-day 1 were pre-determined to put the Premier League champions against the runners-up of the Challenge League, the Premier League runners-up against the Challenge League champions and then the third-placed against the tenth, the fourth against the ninth, the fifth against the eighth and the sixth against the seventh.
Abela announced that the 360Sports Malta Premier will kick-off on August 16 with matches being played between Saturdays and Mondays and Fridays and Sundays on alternate weeks.
Matches will be played mainly at the National Stadium and the Tony Bezzina Stadium although the Centenary Stadium and the Victor Tedesco Stadium will be used as well.
One particular match-day from the Closing Round between March 28 and March 31 will be played in Gozo thanks to the support of the Ministry for Gozo.
At the end of the first phase of the Opening Round, a draw would determine the fixtures for the Top 6 and Bottom 6. Fixtures for match-day 12 and match-day 16 would be predetermined as follows: 1 vs 6, 2 vs 5 and 3 vs 4 for match-day 12 and 1 vs 2, 3 vs 4 and 5 vs 6 for match-day 16.
The same procedure would be used for the Closing Round.
How will the 360Sports Malta Premier 2024/25 work?
Twelve teams will be taking part in the Malta Premier League which will be played on two rounds – the Opening Round and the Closing Round.
In the Opening Round – Phase 1, all twelve teams will play each other and therefore play a total of eleven matches. In Phase 2, teams will be split into two sections – the Top 6 and the Bottom 6 where in each section teams will play five matches in all.
The ranking at the end of the Opening Round will be noted but points will then be reset to zero for the Closing Round.
In the Closing Round – Phase 1, all twelve teams will play each other once again and therefore play a total of eleven matches. In Phase 2, teams will be split once again into two sections – the Top 6 and the Bottom 6 where in each section teams will play five matches in all.
Championship Permutations
The first scenario is that the same team wins both rounds. In that case, the team is automatically declared champion and qualifies for the UEFA Champions League.
If two different teams place second in the two rounds, both will qualify for the UEFA Conference League.
If the same team places as runner-up, that team will qualify for the UEFA Conference League and there would be a play-off between the two teams placing third to determine the other team to qualify for the UEFA Conference League.
The second scenario is when two different teams place first in the respective rounds, finishing second in the other. In that case, a championship decider – The Final – would determine the champion and hence the representative in the UEFA Champions League.
The loser would take part in the UEFA Conference League.
If a team places third in both the Opening and Closing Rounds, that team would represent Malta in the UEFA Conference League. On the other hand, if two different teams place third in the respective rounds, a play-off would be necessary to determine who will take part in the UEFA Conference League.
In the third scenario, there is the possibility of two teams placing first and second in the Opening Round and two different teams placing first and second in the Closing Round. In that case the Final Four would be played.
Points collected throughout the season will be taken into consideration for the two semi-finals where the best ranked team will face the team ranked fourth in one semi-final and the teams ranked second and third will face each other in the other semi-finals. The winners reach the final and the team emerging as winner would be declared champion and represent Malta in the UEFA Champions League.
The losing finalist would represent Malta in the UEFA Conference League while a play-off between the losing semi-finalists would determine third place and participation in the UEFA Conference League.
On the other hand, in case a team places first in one round and second in the other and the other teams placing second and first are different teams, a fourth team for the Final Four would emerge from the best third-placed team considering the number of points collected throughout the season.
There will be two semi-finals and the winner of the final would be declared champion and represent Malta in the UEFA Champions League. The losing finalist would represent Malta in the UEFA Conference League while a play-off between the losing semi-finalists would determine third place and participation in the UEFA Conference League.
Relegation Permutations
If the same two teams place 11th and 12th in both the Opening and Closing Rounds, then the two teams are relegated automatically.
If a team places 11th or 12th in both rounds, that team will be relegated automatically. On the other hand, there will be a play-off between the other two teams placing in one of the bottom two places in the respective rounds.
If four different teams place in the bottom two places in the respective rounds, play-offs would determine relegation.
Their total number of points obtained throughout the season will be taken into consideration and the best ranked will face the worst ranked in one decider and those ranked second and third will face each other in another decider.
The losers of the two play-offs will be relegated.
