Pelinku, Attard suspended by Malta FA
Albanian coach Ilir Pelinku and referee Joe Attard have been suspended by the Malta FA for their alleged involvement in a match-fixing ploy before this season's UEFA Cup game between Marsaxlokk and Croatia's Slaven Belupo. Joe Mifsud, the Malta FA...
Albanian coach Ilir Pelinku and referee Joe Attard have been suspended by the Malta FA for their alleged involvement in a match-fixing ploy before this season's UEFA Cup game between Marsaxlokk and Croatia's Slaven Belupo.
Joe Mifsud, the Malta FA president, told reporters yesterday that Pelinku and Attard, who are expected to be arraigned in court shortly, have been banned provisionally, pending an internal investigation into the case, details of which were revealed by the MFA head last week.
Dr Mifsud also said that UEFA and FIFA have been duly informed about the match-fixing attempt which, according to the MFA chief, failed to materialise.
"I have written a letter to UEFA with all the details about the case and FIFA have also been notified, given that one of the implicated persons was a FIFA referee," Dr Mifsud said.
UEFA, who recently announced plans to set up an investigation unit after it emerged that 25 UEFA Cup matches were being studied due to irregular betting patterns, are also expected to hold an inquiry into the match-fixing allegations surrounding the Marsaxlokk-Slaven Belupo match.
Dr Mifsud reiterated the Malta FA's zero-tolerance stance on corruption yesterday, a week after he made an appeal for persons to approach the association if they possessed information on other match-fixing attempts.
The Malta FA president would not be drawn into revealing whether anyone had shed light on any other match-fixing attempts in Maltese football since his strongly-worded address yesterday week.
During yesterday's news conference at the Centenary Hall, Dr Mifsud also announced that from next season, Maltese clubs taking part in the Champions League and the UEFA Europa League (UEFA Cup) will start their campaigns in the preliminary round in both competitions.
Due to Malta's low ranking in UEFA's co-efficient list, the 2008-09 Maltese champions must tackle a preliminary round tie. This extra qualifying round will feature the six league winners from the national associations ranked 48th to 53rd.
As the first preliminary round games are scheduled for June 30/July 1, 2009, the Malta FA might have to reschedule its fixtures for the final week of the domestic season to ensure that the turf pitch of the National Stadium is fit to host the matches from the two UEFA competitions.
The MFA head also spoke about Malta's forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Denmark and Hungary.
"We're aware that our team is in a very difficult qualifying group but we will continue to do our best to gain some positive results," Dr Mifsud said.
"The home encounter against Hungary brings back fond memories of the 2-1 win we obtained over the same nation in 2006. I hope that the sporting public will come to support our team against Hungary.
"The South End Core have earned a reputation for creating a vibrant, colourful atmosphere at the National Stadium for international matches and I'm sure they will do the same against Hungary."
Tickets for the match against Hungary, to be played tomorrow week, go on sale today.