The Malta Olympic Committee said this evening that it deplored the decision by Justice Minister Chris Said to request an investigation into the actions of its president, Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco after media reports on the sale of Olympic Games tickets.

The committee said the minister took the decision without a proper appreciation of the facts, which facts showed that the committee officials acted correctly and not as claimed by a section of the media.

The Times reported that Justice Minister has asked President George Abela as president of the Council for the Administration of Justice to investigate Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco,  over the alleged Olympics ticket scandal which emerged in The Sunday Times of London.

The British newspaper accused certain national Olympic committees of selling tickets to third parties for resale on the black market, which is prohibited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The MOC was not one of these.

However, the newspaper suggested Malta may have been willing to have its tickets sold by agents outside its borders. The IOC does not allow countries to sell their tickets abroad.

It also filmed MOC general secretary Joe Cassar explaining to two undercover reporters posing as envoys of a Middle Eastern ticket tout – in Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco's presence – how high mark-ups for the tickets could be "camouflaged" through "subtle" marketing techniques.

Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

When asked yesterday, he said the episode should not reflect badly on his role as a judge and lashed out at "attacks" about his dual role. He said no other country in the world prevented judges from serving on sport-related committees.

"If perceptions are wrong, it is not my fault," he said, adding that he had spoken to the IOC following the launch of its global investigation. He was assured Malta had done "nothing wrong".

"Otherwise the IOC would have thrown me out. It's the other countries that are the problem," he added.

Asked whether it made sense to attend such business meetings, he said: "I'm not an international judge and I don't ever deal with businessmen in Malta. Never!"

Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco says Malta is allowed to sell its rights to an authorised ticket retailer who then sells the island's allocated tickets to people in EU countries, as long as some tickets are sold locally.

He says the EU's free trade laws allow tickets to be sold across the union and the IOC has "accepted" this rule, "whether formally or informally".

In fact, Malta's tickets for the London 2012 Games have been given to the highest bidder, Marcus Evans group (THG), which is also the authorised seller for Greece and Ireland.

Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco also defended Mr Cassar, saying the rules allow agents to bundle accommodation together with ticket prices.

Asked if the Maltese were given the opportunity to buy the tickets, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said the tickets were advertised on the MOC's website.

"Nobody ever complained to us that they were turned down," he said.

The MOC also  issued a statement  denying any wrong­doing and saying its officials never asked for payments, mark-ups or percentages from its tickets and never planned to buy tickets to resell them. It accused the (London) Sunday Times reporters of having deceitful intentions and trying to catch people in a "net".

It said the Marcus Evans agreement was approved by the IOC and the income was used to train Maltese athletes for the London Olympics.

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