Football commentator Sandro Micallef has drawn heavy criticism for what has been called a xenophobic remark he made about a Senagelese footballer during a local match last Sunday.

Referring to an incident in which Amadou Samb, playing for Floriana, struck Valletta player Ian Azzopardi in the face with his elbow, Mr Micallef said: “Ma nixtieqx plejer Malti jagħti din id-daqqa, aħseb u ara barrani li jiġi f’pajjzina jaqla x’jiekol, jixrob u jgħix u jagħmlilna pastażata bħal din.” [“I wouldn’t want to see this blow from a Maltese player, much less a foreigner who comes to our country to eat, drink and live, and then commits these despicable acts against us.”]

The remark was made on a live broadcast of the BOV Premier League encounter on TVM2 last Sunday, for which Mr Micallef, who is the general secretary of the Malta Sports Journalists Association, was commentating.

A video clip of the incident was shared widely on social media yesterday, with many calling Mr Micallef’s remark “racist”, “xenophobic” or “gross ignorance”.

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