Monitoring of friendly football games to watch out for match-fixing has become more relevant after last May’s scandal in Italy, according to the Malta Football Association’s anti-corruption officer.

Franz Tabone, MFA integrity officer, told the Times of Malta the association had asked its international betting monitor, Sportradar, four years ago to keep tabs on all pre-season friendly matches.

So far, the association had not been notified of any irregular betting patterns, Mr Tabone said, pointing out that the measure was a precautionary move.

At least two Maltese nationals with connections to Maltese football clubs, brothers Adrian and Robert Farrugia, were in May implicated by Italian investigators in a match-fixing ring that targeted games from Italy’s lower divisions. They have not yet been charged or called in for questioning by the Italian and Maltese police.

Read more in the Times of Malta.

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