Sammut’s tears as he sets out to clear his name

Former Malta international footballer Kevin Sammut made a tearful plea of his innocence yesterday, two days after a UEFA board handed him a 10-year suspension for match-fixing.

Some have said it would be better to unmask other people and get a discounted sentence... but I know nothing. I did nothing

Mr Sammut intends to appeal the sentence, which his legal team said followed a “blatantly unjust” trial.

The player, known as Il-Viper, struggled to hold back the tears as he spoke at a press conference, insisting he had nothing to tell investigators.

“Some have said it would be better if I unmasked other people and get myself a discounted sentence. But I know nothing. I did nothing. What can I reveal? Believe me, I don’t know,” the Valletta FC midfielder said.

Mr Sammut was found guilty by the UEFA’s disciplinary body of having fixed a Euro 2008 qualifier between Malta and Norway in 2007.

Malta had conceded three goals in the last 18 minutes to lose 4-0 that day.

Mr Sammut had been substituted at half-time when the score was still 1-0.

Led by lawyer Michael Sciriha, his defence team yesterday laid into the UEFA’s “prejudiced” disciplinary procedures.

Mr Sammut was only given two weeks’ notice to prepare his defence prior to appearing before UEFA’s disciplinary board in Nyon, Switzerland. He was also told that he would have to pay for witnesses to fly to Switzerland and testify in his defence.

When Mr Sammut’s lawyers wrote to UEFA to complain, the football body’s response was straightforward: Mr Sammut was not obliged to attend his own hearing, which would go on anyway in his absence.

And although the defence could provide a list of witnesses, UEFA’s disciplinary board could choose not to listen to their testimonies.

That, his defence team noted, was exactly what happened last Friday, when the disciplinary board opted to press on to judgment without having first heard Mr Sammut’s witnesses testify.

Sammut trial was ‘farcical’

The witnesses included Malta Football Association officials, Mr Sammut’s room-mate during the game in question and Malta’s then-national team manager Dusan Fitzel.

Criminal lawyer Manwel Mallia, who served as legal counsel to Mr Sammut’s defence team, was scathing in his criticism.

“Can anyone conceive this form of justice whereby witnesses aren’t even heard?

“Not only were the defence and prosecution not given equal time to prepare their cases but, judging by the line of questioning, UEFA’s investigator may have approached the case with certain preconceptions in mind,” Dr Mallia said.

He dismissed the testimony of key witness Mario Cvrtak, the Croat who claimed to have met Mr Sammut in his hotel room.

“In his first statements, Mr Cvrtak described two Maltese players: one who wore glasses and had curly hair and another who was short and chubby. Is Mr Sammut short and chubby,” the lawyer asked as he pointed to the athletic, short-haired Mr Sammut.

Dr Sciriha was equally withering: “I’m not going to call it arrogance but the way the disciplinary board acted sent us a clear message that they wanted to do things their way, not as they ought to.”

Mr Sammut must now wait for UEFA to explain the motivations behind its decision before he can file an appeal. If that fails, he can submit his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport before filing a case with the European Court of Human Rights.

His defence team has said they will probably take the case all the way to the ECHR.

In the meantime, Mr Sammut hopes to be able to train with his Valletta FC team-mates.

Club president Victor Sciriha, the brother of Mr Sammut’s lawyer, said that Valletta FC would stand behind the player.

“The trial was a farce. We hope the MFA will give Kevin permission to train regularly with us so that he’ll be able to rejoin the team if his appeal is upheld.”