S.L. 455.12 Art. 4commercial-isation of a sports facility.

(1) A sports organisation shall apply to the

Commission in order to be able to carry out commercial activity in a sports facility. A sports organisation may carry out commercial activity solely upon being granted a permit by the Commission, following the submission of an application in accordance with sub-regulation (2):

Provided that a sports organisation which intends to carry out a commercial activity as defined in these regulations, which commercial activity does not take up more than a total floorspace of two hundred square metres (200sqm), shall apply for the carrying out of such commercial activity with SportMalta after notifying the commission and, following clearance by the said commission for the processing of the application, Sport Malta shall adopt its own policies and procedures on how to deal with and approve such applications.

(2) The application for the commercialisation of a sports facility shall, on pain of nullity, contain the following:

(a) the name, registration number as a sports person and official address of the applicant;

(b) a list of all committee members of the sports organisation, with clear indication as to the responsibility held by each committee member;

(c) a signed declaration as to who are the legal representatives of the sports organisation;

(d) a detailed written explanation of the type of commercial activity proposed to be carried out within the sports facility by the applicant;

(e) a plan made by a that identifies the area of perit the sports facility that shall be used as the sports area and the commercial area, with a declaration on what will be the number of square metres which shall be used as the sports area and the commercial area respectively, that contains all necessary designs and plans on how the sports facility is going to be structured, including both commercial and sports areas. The proposed sports area shall never be less in size than the area which is currently being used exclusively for the practice of the sporting discipline for which the sports organisation is registered with SportMalta. The sports area and the sports ancillary area shall invariably be at least sixty per cent (60%) of the total floorspace;

(f) a signed declaration on the estimated time for the completion of any infrastructural works that are to be carried out in the sports facility prior to the start of the commercial activity;

(g) a sworn declaration made by the legal representatives of the sports organisation confirming that the application is being made by the sports organisation according to these regulations and that the sports organisation is aware of and understands all its rightsand obligations according to these regulations;

(h) proof of title over the land proposed for commercialisation;

(i) a complete application form as provided in Schedule 1.

(3) Upon receipt of an application by a sports organisation, the Commission shall confirm that the application is complete, and upon such confirmation it shall issue a letter of intent to the sports organisation so that it may commence with any preparations it deems necessary. The Commission shall also instruct the sports organisation to forward such letter of intent and a copy of the completed application, including all attached documents to the Lands Authority for the confirmation of proof of title over the land proposed and the valuation of the land according to regulation 6.

(4) The sports organisation, upon paying the relative fees and following receipt of the official valuation documentation prepared by the Lands Authority, shall:

(a) prepare a business plan that explains in detail the expense estimated in order to start the commercial activity within the sports facility, how such estimated expense shall be financed, plans for the repayment of the expenses, the estimated revenue that shall be generated by the commercial activity and a detailed explanation on how the sports organisation shall benefit, from a sportive perspective, from the commercial activity clearly including the following key performance indicators;

(i) the targeted yearly turnover;

(ii) the targeted overall yearly job creation;

(iii) a monetary equivalent quantification of the yearly benefits to the sport organisation;

(b) produce an authenticated copy of any development and management contract concluded with a third-party operator according to regulation 7;

(c) compile all documents proving that all natural persons forming part of the committee of the sports organisation and all natural persons being the members, directors, shareholders and, or ultimate beneficial owners of any third-party operator, which can be both a natural person or a legal person, that have entered into a development and management contract with the sports organisation according to regulation 7 to fulfil the criteria set out in regulation 7(3);

(d) take all measures necessary to fulfil the requirements of regulation 6(6).

(4a) The sports organization shall also commission an audit firm to verify that the above requirements have been duly completed and to provide a declaration in accordance with Schedule 2.

(5) The audit firm is also to provide an audit report which shall:

(a) assess and confirm whether the project is intended to lead to the infrastructural, financial and sportive growth of the sports organization;

(b) confirm whether the time-frames proposed are realistic;

(c) evaluate whether the sports organisation, or a proposed third-party operator, are financially capable to start the commercial activity and whether they are financially viable to manage and sustain a prolonged commercial operation;

(d) verify the process of adjudication of the request for proposals leading to the confirmation that this has been carried out in line with the conditions laid out in the request for proposals;

(e) confirm that the requirements of regulation 7(3) are fulfilled;

(f) confirm that any third-party contract is in accordance with regulation 7(4):

Provided that the audit report shall include all the documentation which is to be prepared and provided by the sports organization referred to in the application in accordance with the checklist provided in Schedule 3: Provided further that following the submission of the declaration and report required in sub-regulation (4a) and this sub-regulation, the Commission shall proceed with the approval of the application process and may impose any condition it feels appropriate on the sports organisation and any third-party operator participating in the project of the sports organization.

(6) Repealed by Legal Notice 61 of 2023.

(7) Repealed by Legal Notice 61 of 2023.

(8) The sports organisation shall have the right to appeal a decision of the Commission to refuse the application or to impose any condition to the Appeals Panel within seven (7) days from the service of the reasoned decision for refusal of the application or for the imposition of a condition.

(9) When in receipt of an appeal from a decision of the Commission by a sports organisation, the Appeals Panel shall convene one (1) hearing, not later than thirty (30) days from the receipt of the appeal, in order to hear the appellant sports organisation and the Commission.

(10) The Appeals Panel shall notify its motivated decision on the appeal to the parties within fifteen (15) days from the last hearing of the appeal.

(11) The decision of the Appeals Panel shall be final and absolute.

(12) The Commission shall notify SportMalta of all permissions granted by the Commission, in the first instance, or the Appeals Panel, following an appeal, and shall forward all documentation to SportMalta.