Sciriha urges MP to substantiate claims

Valletta president Victor Sciriha yesterday called on Nationalist MP Jean Pierre Farrugia to corroborate claims that local clubs may be generating extra income from illegal gambling.

Dr Farrugia sent shockwaves through Maltese football yesterday after local newspapers reported the speech he made in Parliament on Wednesday about the spectre of corruption and illegal betting.

The reports quoted Dr Farrugia as saying that the general impression was that some club chairmen may have gone beyond their duties of giving incentives to their own players by also approaching opposing teams.

While urging the Malta FA administration to address the matter seriously, Dr Farrugia said it was impossible for clubs to fork out thousands of euros without any additional income, adding that many times it could be that the extra revenue for the club originated from gambling.

Sciriha, the head of Premier League champions Valletta, took issue with Dr Farrugia’s comments.

“In today’s newspapers, there was a Member of Parliament who cast a dull shadow on the presidents of the local Premier League clubs,” Sciriha said during MFA Live, the Malta FA’s weekly television programme on TVM.

“I don’t know what the other presidents are going to do (about Dr Farrugia’s comments). I speak to the majority of the presidents and I know that they are people of integrity. They make a lot of sacrifices.

“I can’t accept that Dr Jean Pierre Farrugia makes a statement that the presidents of Premier League clubs are making money through betting. I appeal to Dr Farrugia that if he knows of any cases... with the insinuation he has made, he has not besmirched (the reputation of) those who are dirty but the 10 presidents of the Premier League clubs.

“This is not fair. If there is a president who has done these things and he (Dr Farrugia) has proof of this, I urge him to go to the president of the MFA and the Police Commissioner and inform them of these cases because it’s not fair that all the presidents are implicated in this.”

With local football still reeling from allegations that some Malta players had agreed to throw their Euro 2008 qualifier away to Norway (0-4) four years ago, Dr Farrugia’s comments have been widely construed as dealing another blow to the credibility of the local game.

Dr Farrugia said that a player should stoop so low as to betray his country’s colours hurt even more than at club level. When clubs themselves gambled on match results, Dr Farrugia continued, with the possibility of falling victim to usury, the situation became even more worrying.

Players who do not receive their wages for several months were especially susceptible to corruption, Dr Farrugia said.

Labour MP Joe Debono Grech also attacked the credibility of Maltese football during Wednesday’s sitting.

Debono Grech said matches failed to draw big crowds to the stadium because many supporters had good indications on who would win the championship and the trophy before the start of the season. According to Debono Grech, many clubs incurred a lot of expenses in vain.

The allegations of Dr Farrugia and Debono Grech were expected to be discussed by the Malta FA Executive Committee yesterday evening.

This contentious subject is also likely to be raised during today’s MFA Council Meeting during which the association’s top officials are also expected to give an update on the probe into allegations of match-fixing surrounding Malta’s Euro 2008 qualifier against Norway.

Sources have told The Times that the police investigation, which was launched last month, is gathering pace.