'Casha's refereeing unacceptable' - Valletta FC
Ask MFA president to intervene
Valletta FC yesterday issued a statement saying they had written to the Malta FA asking for a meeting with president Joe Mifsud and for him to intervene and see that referee Adrian Casha will no longer be appointed to officiate matches involving their team.
Secretary Anton Abela said his club was deeply disappointed with the control of Mr Casha during Saturday's Premier League match against Msida SJ which the latter won 4-1.
Valletta had two players sent off and the referee awarded two penalties in Msida's favour which completely turned the match on its head. The Citizens had shown the better ideas in the opening half so much so that Msida goalkeeper Omar Borg was also named man-of-the-match in some sections of the media after his excellent interventions in the opening 45 minutes.
The statement added that it was not the first time that Valletta had suffered because of Mr Casha's controversial handling in Premier League matches.
In their letter to the Malta FA president, Valletta FC said it was unacceptable for their players, officials and supporters to be treated unfairly by poor refereeing in a competition as important as the Premier League.
Mr Abela said the behaviour of Valletta supporters on the stands these past few years has been exemplary and this thanks to an all-round effort from various quarters.
But all this could be lost if the fans are made to endure similar bad refereeing like the one of Saturday. This is unjust, the statement said, and could lead to serious consequences beyond the club's control.
This is not the first time that Valletta FC are at loggerheads with Mr Casha.
Almost two years ago, in November 30, 2002, Valletta beat Floriana 1-0 in an agitated derby with Mr Casha in control. A free-for-all broke out after the match and the Disciplinary Board, acting on the referee's report, suspended six Valletta players, one of them, Trevor Thomas, for four matches.
On that occasion, the decision triggered a bold reaction from then Valletta FC president Joe Caruana Curran who also asked the MFA to stop Mr Casha from refereeing matches involving Valletta FC.
It seems Mr Caruana Curran's demands were not heeded at the time but now, the statement said, the club is ready to take some drastic measures to see that no appointment is given to Mr Casha for a Valletta match.