Qormi FC defender Stephen Wellman is free to continue with his football career after saying a UEFA Appeals Body had confirmed his lack of involvement in a match-fixing case that goes back to 2007 when Malta played Norway in a Euro 2008 qualifier in Oslo.

Unconfirmed reports said Kevin Sammut, originally suspended for 10 years by UEFA when the case was first heard in August, had his 10-year sentence increased to a lifetime ban as Kenneth Scicluna, the other player originally implicated in the probe, and Wellman were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Wellman said the hearing, in Nyon, Switzerland, lasted almost seven hours.

“The UEFA Appeals Body has unanimously reconfirmed my lack of involvement and, or knowledge in the alleged match-fixing scheme concerning the match Norway vs Malta in June, 2007,” the former national team player said in his statement.

“I am satisfied with this result as it confirms my innocence – a position that I have sustained since inception of the investigation by both Malta FA and UEFA officers, and which has finally been confirmed by not just one but two independent adjudicating bodies of UEFA.”

Wellman was assisted by lawyer Keith A. Borg. The hearing started at around 10am but until this evening UEFA’s Appeals Body had yet to make its decision official.