Premier League (Malta)

Premier League (Malta) (Malta Premier League) - the top professional club football division in Malta under the Malta Football Association. Regulations: 12 clubs take part and the season is split into two separate rounds - an Opening Round and a Closing Round, in each round teams first play a single round-robin league phase (11 matches) and then the table is split into two groups without resetting points within the round, places 1-6 form the championship group and places 7-12 form the relegation group, after which each group plays a further single round-robin of 5 matches, while points are reset to zero at the start of the Closing Round. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss, if teams are level on points the tie-breakers are applied in order as head-to-head points, head-to-head goal difference, head-to-head goals scored, overall goal difference, overall goals scored and then drawing of lots, and if decisive positions for the title or relegation still cannot be determined a deciding match is arranged. The champion is determined from the combined classification of the two rounds: if the same club wins the 1-6 group in both rounds it is declared champion, otherwise the champion and the leading places are decided through play-off matches involving the winners and runners-up of the 1-6 groups from the Opening and Closing rounds. Two clubs are relegated to the Challenge League, with relegation determined from the bottom-group outcomes across both rounds: if the bottom two positions in the 7-12 group are occupied by the same two clubs in both rounds both are relegated, if only one club repeats in those positions it is relegated automatically and the second relegated club is decided via a play-off, and if four different clubs occupy the bottom two positions across the two rounds two play-off matches are played and the losing clubs are relegated. UEFA qualification follows the final classification and the association access list: Malta’s champion enters UEFA Champions League qualifying, while the remaining association places are for UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying via the league and the domestic cup, subject to UEFA club licensing.