The Malta FA-appointed board of internal auditors will this afternoon present its report into allegations that, in the past, the association failed to distribute UEFA’s solidarity payments to clubs in full.
The audit was commissioned by the MFA council members last September after Norman Darmanin Demajo, the president of the local governing body of football, revealed that a review by the MFA’s financial department showed that, under the previous administration, over €70,000 from UEFA’s solidarity grants between 2003 and 2008 were not given to the clubs as indicated by UEFA guidelines.
“For five consecutive years, starting from season 2002-03 and based on the information provided by our financial department, the solidarity payments were not distributed in full to clubs as instructed by UEFA,” Darmanin Demajo said at the time.
The report of the board of internal auditors, which was made up of three MFA council members, was discussed by the MFA Executive Committee last week and is on the agenda of today’s council meeting, to be held at the Centenary Hall.
Sources have told The Times that the board has essentially confirmed the veracity of Darmanin Demajo’s claims after concluding that, for a number of years, the association failed to fully adhere to UEFA’s guidelines on the distribution of its annual solidarity payments.
Several persons, including present and former MFA officials, have been interviewed by the members of the board of internal auditors as part of their inquiry.
During the MFA council meeting in September, Darmanin Demajo also mentioned the letter he had sent to MFA general secretary Joe Gauci in December 2008 about alleged misappropriation of funds received from UEFA through its various assistance programmes.
“At the time, I had only called on the MFA to set up a board of inquiry to investigate the matter,” the MFA president said.
Darmanin Demajo also promised to refund the withheld money to clubs if the internal audit found that there were irregularities in the way the UEFA solidarity payments were distributed.
Meanwhile, The Times has also learnt that the MFA Executive Committee has issued a provisional suspension against the person who allegedly tried to bribe a Naxxar Lions player before their Division One league match against Gżira United last year.
It was initially thought that the MFA couldn’t take disciplinary action against this person as he was not a member of a club committee but, after further inquiries revealed that he is still registered as a futsal player, the association moved to suspend him indefinitely, pending the outcome of the inquest by the relevant board.