Vittoriosa appeal against demotion not upheld

Vittoriosa Stars' appeal against the ruling by the Malta FA to ratify the decision by the Board to Investigate Corrupt Practices to demote the club for the Premier League to Division One, was not upheld yesterday.

Vittoriosa had won promotion to the top flight for the first time in more than three decades at the end of season 2008-09. However, their stay in the Premier League only lasted one match as the Stars were found guilty of match-fixing in a Division One championship game back in December.

In response to the MFA board's verdict on August 24, Vittoriosa announced that they would file an appeal as they considered the sentence to be unfair and also had serious reservations about the MFA's disciplinary procedures.

Club lawyer Edward Gatt argued during a press conference at Couvre Porte that the officials who issued the charges against Vittoriosa Stars FC were the same board members who ruled on the case.

Now, following the Appeals' Board ruling yesterday, Vittoriosa's last chance of regaining their status in the Premier League will be to bring their case in front of the Independent Arbitration Tribunal within the MFA.

However, last night club sources were still weighing up the option of taking their case before the tribunal.