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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