Sliema accuse goalkeeper of accepting bribe
Simon Agius refuses to play in protest
The goalkeeper of Sliema Wanderers FC yesterday refused to play the deciding match with Qormi for the Europa league, claiming his club bosses falsely accused him of corruption and threatened him hours before the match.
Simon Agius filed a judicial protest explaining that he was called for a 1 a.m. meeting yesterday with club president Steve Abela, coach Mark Marlow and PR officer Ivan Calleja. During the meeting it was alleged that he had accepted a bribe, he said, adding he had been intimidated by club officials.
The team was staying at the Le Meridien Hotel, in St Julians to prepare mentally for yesterday's match. Before a team-building exercise, the players were told by the officials they had found out that someone had been bribed and that they would speak to the player personally. Later, they called Mr Agius, whose contract with the club expired yesterday, for a meeting outside the hotel when he was told he was the one. The goalkeeper said the officials told him they had paid money to get the information.
He said they would not tell him who gave them the details but they threatened that there would be consequences for him and his family.
Mr Agius denied the claims vehemently in his judicial protest, pointing out that he had invited the officials to take the allegations to the police. They refused, confirming that the claims were baseless, he said.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper refused to play on grounds that he was not in the right state, "physically or mentally". The fact that he had not been paid by the club for quite some time and still did his best to improve the club's position made the allegations even more deplorable, he insisted.
Mr Agius is holding the officials liable for damages, saying that since his contract with Sliema expired yesterday, the allegations were damaging his prospects with other clubs he would be dealing with in the future. The protest was filed against Mr Abela, Mr Marlow and Mr Calleja, club secretary, Mario Debono and treasurer Marc Migneco in their capacity as representatives of the club. Lawyer Stefano Filletti signed the protest.
The allegations follow a series of high-profile corruption cases , which last September saw the demotion of Marsaxlokk and Vittoriosa from the Premier League to the First Division after officials from both clubs were found guilty of match fixing.
Sliema beat Qormi 2-0 last night.