VisitMalta goes from Manchester United to amateur-league SPAL via Joseph Portelli

Malta’s national tourism brand has become the sponsor of an amateur-league Italian football club recently acquired by Gozitan construction magnate Joseph Portelli, marking a striking change from VisitMalta’s multi-million-euro association with global football giant Manchester United.

VisitMalta branding will feature on the shirts of SPAL following a ‘secret’ sponsorship agreement announced in Ferrara, Italy, this week, just six weeks after Portelli acquired the historic but financially troubled Italian club through JP Football Holdings.

SPAL, formally Ars et Labor Ferrara, will compete this season in Eccellenza Emilia-Romagna, the fifth tier of Italian football, after financial problems led to the exclusion of the former Serie A club from Serie C and its subsequent rebirth.

Similar to the case of Manchester United, the cost to Maltese taxpayers of the new sponsorship has not been disclosed.

The Shift asked Carlo Micallef, the CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority, to state what the sponsorship package includes, its duration and its total cost.

The MTA was also asked to explain how sponsoring a fifth-tier Italian football club fits into its strategy for attracting tourists from Italy, already Malta’s largest tourism market.

No reply was received by the time of publication.

According to reports from the sponsorship launch, the deal was promoted by Portelli himself.

Ester Tamasi, who heads the MTA’s Italian office, credited the Gozitan businessman with bringing about the initiative, saying the project was “born thanks to” Portelli.

Portelli, one of Malta’s largest property developers, has acknowledged making donations to both of Malta’s main political parties and political candidates and has cultivated close relations with politicians over the years.

The sponsorship also comes shortly after responsibility for the MTA passed to newly appointed Tourism Minister Jo Etienne Abela, who, like Portelli, is Gozitan.

The latest deal contrasts sharply with the rationale previously used by the government to justify VisitMalta’s football sponsorship strategy.

In 2022, the MTA renewed its sponsorship agreement with Manchester United for another five years. The government promoted the deal by highlighting the Premier League club’s estimated 1.1 billion followers worldwide and the exposure Malta would receive across Europe and lucrative long-haul markets in America, Asia and the Middle East.

The financial terms of that agreement were also kept secret.

The Shift reported at the time that the MTA refused Freedom of Information requests seeking the Manchester United contracts and invoices, citing commercial confidentiality. It also failed to publish an impact assessment demonstrating the return obtained from the sponsorship or explain how Manchester United had been selected over alternative marketing opportunities.

Four years later, VisitMalta is now putting its brand on the shirts of a club operating five divisions below Serie A.

Portelli completed his acquisition of SPAL on 9 July after earlier unsuccessful attempts to enter Italian football through Siena and Nocerina.

His company said at the time that it intended to provide the Ferrara club with financial stability and rebuild it, with Portelli subsequently setting promotion to Serie D as his immediate objective and Serie A as his longer-term ambition.

Less than two months into that project, Malta’s taxpayer-funded tourism authority has become one of its principal commercial backers, helping Portelli in his latest deal.