Euro qualifiers clashed with club commitments, says player’s father
Steve Camilleri was willing to play for the national team in last year’s Euro qualifiers against Poland and Turkey but commitments with Italian club Bogliasco left him with no option but to withdraw, Stefan Camilleri, the player’s father,...
Steve Camilleri was willing to play for the national team in last year’s Euro qualifiers against Poland and Turkey but commitments with Italian club Bogliasco left him with no option but to withdraw, Stefan Camilleri, the player’s father, said.
Replying to a statement by the Għaqda Ġurnalisti Sport, published in The Times last Friday, in which the GħĠS explained that Camilleri’s omission from the list of finalists for the 2010 SportMalta Awards – L-Għażliet Sportivi Nazzjonali owed to his absence from the above-mentioned matches , Dr Camilleri said the reasons put forward in the article put his son in a bad light.
“Mr (Sandro) Micallef (GħĠS general secretary) stated that ‘the ASA did its utmost to convince Steve to make himself available for the national team’,” Dr Camilleri said in his statement. “This comment put Stevie in a bad light and made it seem that he had willingly chosen not to play for the national team.”
“Stevie always intended to play for Malta and did not need any convincing,” Dr Camilleri added.
“When the European qualifying fixtures for Malta were known in August, it became clear that these would clash with two Bogliasco league games. I asked the ASA to arrange for Stevie to be able to play.
“The ASA first contacted the Italian Federation, FIN, and Bogliasco in October. It was made clear by FIN that, due to the tight league schedule, the games could not be moved.
“Bogliasco insisted that they were not prepared to release Stevie for the game against Poland, which was to be played at the end of October.
“In mid-October, the ASA asked Poland to have Malta’s game moved to Sunday. Poland did not accept.
“Two weeks before the Turkey game, the ASA again requested Stevie’s release which Bogliasco did not agree to. Bogliasco coach, (Jonathan) Del Galdo, contacted Malta coach Sergio Afric by phone a number of times to try and find a solution and also tried to get Posillipo to agree to switch their league game. Again this was declined.”
Dr Camilleri said these circumstances put the Neptunes stalwart in an awkward position as he could not walk out on Bogliasco to play in the European qualifiers.