The Malta Olympic Committee (MOC) yesterday reiterated their stance on the incident reported by international news agencies last week after Simon Gerada's match against silver medallist William Henzell in Melbourne.

Reuters said Gerada threw his Malta shirt in the bin after going down 4-2 to Australia's Henzell. Gerada was leading 2-0 before losing four straight sets in an agitated table tennis match.

"We repeat, the incident as reported abroad never happened," Pippo Psaila said. "We have already said that in a statement and repeat it now that Gerada never disrespected the Malta shirt. To be exact, he never wore a Malta shirt and had his own attire for the Games.

"This episode was blown out of proportion in my opinion. Gerada changed his shirt during the match because he was sweating a lot.

"There won't be any disciplinary measures against him. He was a victim of anti-sporting behaviour by Henzell who broke our player's rhythm by walking out of the hall after going 2-0 down."

Table tennis coach Alex Anastasi also denied ever giving comments to Reuters who said Gerada phoned Psaila to apologise after the match.

"True, Gerada did phone me up in Melbourne but only to say that he was disappointed to have let us down for not winning a medal," Psaila said.

"The lad also hinted he wanted to give up on the sport. However, after a good talk between us two Gerada has decided to continue and is looking forward for his next competition."

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