Parliamentary Secretary for Sports Stefan Buontempo lost two of his closest collaborators over the weekend, with the resignation of the National Sports Council chairman and his head of secretariat.

The chairman of the Kunsill Malti Għall-Isports, Jonathan Barbara, resigned on Saturday after four months in the job. Citing “personal reasons”, Mr Barbara would not comment on why he had resigned when contacted by Times of Malta yesterday. Dr Buontempo’s head of secretariat, Sandro Mangion, also resigned over the weekend and also insisted on a “no comment” when contacted.

Replying to questions sent by Times of Malta yesterday, Dr Buontempo confirmed both resignations but added that they were not related “in any way”.

He said Mr Barbara had resigned for personal reasons and his resignation was still being reviewed.

As for Mr Mangion, a former journalist who only recently returned to Malta after a stint as a translator in Luxembourg, Dr Buontempo said he had “expressed the wish to move on in his career”.

Sources said Mr Barbara could not work comfortably in his role as chairman of the National Sports Council, with other sources saying there was a lot of interference from the secretariat’s office.