Sliema Wanderers FC plans two-floor expansion at Tigne, includes gym, padel courts and commercial space

Sliema Wanderers FC, one of Malta’s major Premier League football teams, has plans to expand its facilities at Tigne Point with a gym, indoor padel courts, sports performance centre, and commercial space.

Once the project is complete, Club President Walter Arciola told BusinessNow.mt, “the club will finally become self-sustainable with a good budget.”

The plans would see the club’s premises located above The Point shopping mall rise by two floors in the club's airspace, Mr Arciola told this newsroom.

Mr Arciola explained that the club is currently waiting for a partial review of the local plans to be issued by the Planning Authority, following a public consultation that took place earlier this year, before submitting its planning application. The partial review seeks to align planning policy with the commercialisation of sports facilities regulations.  

The club president said that according to regulations, the zone dedicated for sports and its ancillary activities have to be at least 60 per cent of the total floorspace.

The expansion would include facilities such as dressing rooms, a gym, and for first time in Malta an interactive AI arcade with a focus on football, which will be open to club’s football nursery and also the public, Mr Arciola said, while also having a floor dedicated to commercial space. Further details about the AI arcade could not be revealed at this stage.

The first floor above the present shopping complex, where the current football pitch is found, would be turned into a commercial area, which will be rented or leased to third parties, Mr Arciola said. What would be the second floor according to the plans would house an indoor padel complex of nine courts, a clubhouse and the interactive AI arcade. The third floor would house the gym, sports centre and other ancillary facilities. The club’s football pitch would be on the roof.

Sliema Wanderers currently has a part of its existing property on the site leased out and used for commercial activity – the building known as D Mall, which is adjacent and connected to The Point shopping mall.

The club recently signed a memorandum of understanding with igaming company Betsson, outlining their intention to establish a long-term partnership. Subject to the completion of the final agreement, the Betsson Group had said, the partnership will support the club's sporting ambitions, investment in facilities and long-term sustainability. The gaming company had said that Sliema Wanderers is one of a limited number of Maltese football clubs that owns premises which can be developed and commercialised to generate recurring revenue, and that the club intends to continue investing in its facilities.