Gozo Minister Anton Refalo this evening angrily denied in parliament that he had intervened so that a Xewkija Tigers player could be released from police arrest in order to play a football match.

He was reacting to claims by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, who later said he had been questioning what role the minister had in this case. 

Intervening, the minister said he was calling on Dr Azzopardi to substantiate his claims. He said he had not known anything about this case, and he was therefore calling on Dr Azzopardi to repeat the claims outside the House or withdraw his allegations. 

The case centres on footballer Daniel Bogdanovich, a former Malta international, who was released in order to play a match against Kerċem last Sunday.

Bogdanovich was arrested the previous evening on charges of domestic violence and carrying a firearm. He was subsequently arraigned in court under arrest on Monday and conditionally released from arrest.

Dr Azzopardi said this case was an example of why Malta was recently described as a Banana Republic by an Italian news channel.