Valletta president slams referee's match report

Referee Adrian Casha, his report of Saturday's derby between Floriana and Valletta, marred by scuffles between players after the final whistle, and the sanctions imposed by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner, have drawn a bold reaction from Premier League club Valletta.

Valletta had six players on the MFA suspensions' list after Saturday's post-match skirmish, prompting Joe Caruana Curran, the long-standing City president, to launch a verbal attack against the referee.

"First and foremost, I want to make it absolutely clear that Valletta FC are against any kind of violence in football," Caruana Curran told a packed news conference yesterday at the club premises for which all members of the Valletta committee were present.

"Having watched TV footage of our game against Floriana, Valletta accept that the incident which left our Bulgarian player Milen Penchev with a gash in his head, occurred during the match. Penchev fell to the ground with blood streaming from his wound and perhaps, it was this incident that led to the confusion that ensued," Caruana Curran remarked.

"Unfortunately, the skirmish that followed Saturday's derby attracted more media exposure than the match itself, drawing adjectives like 'macabre', 'jungle-stuff' from certain critics. But the reality is very much different."

Caruana Curran said Valletta had three "legitimate penalty claims" turned down by referee Casha during that game but the players did not react angrily to his decisions.

"This is not the first time that our club feels hard done by the control of referee Casha. Last year, we had our fair share of lamentations about Casha and this year, there was the case when our player Daniel Bogdanovic was sent off in the Super Five Cup game against Hibs for what Casha described as an 'obvious' elbowing, which in our view, was not so obvious.

"In the light of these injustices against our club and Casha's inconsistency, Valletta have resolved to write a letter to the MFA, asking them not to assign Casha to control matches involving our team."

Caruana Curran proceeded to read the "detailed" description - given in the referee's report - of the circumstances which led the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner to hand two-match bans to five Valletta players, namely Sean Sullivan, Daniel Bogdanovic, Daniel Theuma, Edward Azzopardi and Karl Bonnici and a four-match suspension to striker Trevor Thomas. Floriana's Georgian striker Grigol Gvazava was banned for two games.

The two-match suspensions imposed on five Valletta players were described as unjust by Caruana Curran but he said that they will not be appealing against Thomas's four-match ban.

"Thomas admitted that he hit a Floriana player and we are therefore not appealing against the penalty. Moreover, Valletta also intend to take disciplinary action against Thomas for his misdemeanour, something which proves the consistency between what the club preaches and what action it takes."

According to the Valletta FC president, Casha wrote in his match report that the brawl lasted for four minutes but TV footage showed that calm was restored after one minute 43 seconds.

Moreover, Caruana Curran claimed, how could Casha have kept track of the behaviour of every player mentioned in his report if, amidst the confusion close to the Floriana bench, he stayed on the pitch and the police had intervened.

To support his statement, Caruana Curran showed a video recording of the incidents which demonstrates that the referee may have been unsighted by police officers and other officials when certain events, which Casha referred to in his report, happened.

"In view of all this, I ask whether could it have been possible that the referee viewed TV footage of the incidents before he compiled his report," the Valletta president added.

Caruana Curran said that the incidents had been blown out of proportion by the media and referee. He also accused police of double standards.

"TV footage shows that the police were mostly concerned with controlling Valletta fans after the game, even if these were not insulting their rival fans. On the contrary, the few Floriana supporters who were present for the match were shouting disparaging taunts at our supporters but where were the police?

"This was a clear case of a two-weights-and-two-measures approach by the police and in view of this unfair treatment of our fans, we have decided to withdraw our appointment of stewards for matches involving our club. Valletta were one of three clubs that proposed the setting up of the Board for Order, Safety and Security and agreed to appoint stewards for matches but we cannot tolerate a situation where we are helping people who are not helping us," Caruana Curran added.

On Wednesday, five men, believed to be Valletta fans, were banned by the Magistrates' Court from going to any football ground for four months.

Floriana FC statement

Valletta were also incensed by the statement released by Floriana FC on Tuesday evening whereby the latter gave their version of events after Saturday's clashes.

"People who are familiar with administrative and legal procedures should have known better than that. In view of the fact that the case was still to be looked into by the MFA, Floriana's course of action should have been different.

"The timing of that statement was either unfortunate or else deliberately aimed at exerting pressure on the MFA."

Caruana Curran also called on the MFA to clampdown on taunts aimed at hurting individuals.

"UEFA are tackling racism by issuing fines to anyone found guilty of encouraging or passing racist remarks and the MFA should follow their example by punishing clubs and fans for insults aimed at hurting fellow human beings."

Reacting to speculation that Valletta fans may have been urged to boycott football as a sign of protest against the MFA sanctions and the police measures, Caruana Curran said:

"My appeal is for our fans to rally behind the team in this hour of need. We have found ourselves in a very delicate situation what with six players suspended and several others injured." This evening, Valletta take on Marsa at the Centenary Stadium.

The Valletta chief said the club could give different instructions in the future if the team and its supporters continue to be the "victims of injustices".

Moreover, in light of the events of late, the players, coach and officials have been instructed by the Valletta committee not to talk to the press. Caruana Curran will be the only Valletta official responsible for public relations throughout the duration of the media boycott.