Malta’s World Cup qualification campaign may have ended in complete disappointment but there will nevertheless be a touch of the island at this summer’s tournament.

Brazil, Argentina and Portugal – three of the favourites to win the World Cup – have used Maltese-registered 9H private jets to fly to Russia.

This detail wasn’t missed by Transport Malta, whose chairman James Piscopo took to Twitter to praise his organisation for “reaching new heights and becoming a global jurisdiction of choice”.

Malta has become an increasingly popular jurisdiction for the registration of private aircraft over the past decade, with its registry growing at the fastest rate in the EU in 2014 and 2015.

As of 2017, 270 aircraft were registered in Malta.

Who do you think will win the World Cup this summer?

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]