Fashion retailer to run Tigné complex project


 

Retail outlets replacing the present Sliema Wanderers FC pitches in Tigné Point will be operated by the Dizz Group, whose co-owner sits on a body that considers ventures between sports clubs and commercial entities, it has emerged. A spokesman for the Youth, Sport and Voluntary Organizations Parliamentary Secretariat said the fashion retailer’s co-owner, Karl Izzo, a member of the Commercial Sports Facilities Commission, would not be involved in the project evaluation process.
The project is the first of its kind and will see the football club taking advantage of new legislation allowing sports organizations to commercialize venues, a move the government hopes would help them become financially self-sufficient. The law specifies that the size of the sports facilities could not decrease as a result of a commercialization project. Sliema Wanderers FC president Keith Perry told the Times of Malta when the move was first announced that the sports footprint would be doubled if the changes were approved. The planned project must first be evaluated by the Commercial Sports Facilities Commission, set up last year, whose green light is required before it can be assessed by the Planning Authority. When the Times of Malta learned the Dizz Group will be running the proposed outlets, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Sport was asked whether Mr Izzo, head coach of the national water polo team, had informed the commission about his commercial interest. The secretariat’s spokesman said he had disclosed his interests “from day one”.
The fashion group has had a long-standing relationship with Sliema Wanderers FC, who secured a sponsorship deal with the retailer in 2016. At the time, Mr Perry, who sits on Sports Malta’s board of directors, described the agreement with the Dizz Group as a “natural marriage”. Dizz Group CEO Diane Izzo, Mr. Izzo’s wife, said the agreement was the start of a long-term relationship with the football club. As it happens, Youth, Sport and Voluntary Organizations Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima is a former committee member of Sliema Wanderers FC and also served as nursery chairman.



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