Former national football coach Pippo Psaila has called for the introduction without delay of the Whistleblower Act to help weed out corruption in the game.
He said only a law protecting those who supplied information would help curb corruption tarnishing football in Malta.
Mr Psaila, who had been involved in sports since 1976 until he resigned from his post as director of sport within the Malta Olympic Committee last year, was asked to comment on recent allegations of corruption affecting football.
There have been a number of arraignments involving players, club officials and referees in cases of corruption over the past year.
Mr Psaila said one would be shocked, at first, especially in the case of those who were actively involved in the football scene but, in the long-run, action against people accused of corrupt practices would benefit the sport.
On Friday, Sliema Wanderers FC filed a police report on corruption allegations about last week's Europa league qualifier match with Qormi. Earlier in the week, Sliema goalkeeper Simon Agius filed a judicial protest claiming his club bosses had falsely accused him of corruption and threatened him, hours before the match. The club denied making such allegations against Mr Agius.
The club said later it had passed on corruption-related information to the police. When contacted, Sliema Wanderers president Steve Abela insisted the claims to the police had "nothing to do with" the former goalkeeper. He did not specify whether it involved any other player in the Sliema team and would not elaborate but police sources confirmed the claim was connected to Wednesday's match.
Without entering into the merits of the rift between Mr Agius and the club officials, Mr Psaila said if Sliema officials really had information that Mr Agius was claiming they had, they should have gone directly to the police.
"What has come out in the open with regard to corruption in local football is just the tip of the iceberg. So much more still has to emerge. The problem in Malta is the lack of a Whistleblower Act and the culture of omertà, the code of silence. A non-speaking culture really promulgates a Mafia-style type of scenario," he said.
Veteran sports journalist and former Hibernians FC coach Fr Hilary Tagliaferro echoed Mr Psaila's thoughts, adding that the reason why he had left the football scene 40 years ago was still present and was getting worse rather than better.
"I don't know anything about what Agius or the Sliema club is claiming but the situation is serious. There is corruption and there is absolutely no doubt about it. Today, it's even more evident. The culture of omertà just makes the situation worse. The problem is that no one wants to go to the police with their claims because they know that, in one way or another, they are involved too. There is no transparency at all in local football," he said.