Representatives of Premier League clubs yesterday called on the MFA to address their grave concerns over allegations of significant discrepancies between the money spent on construction and renovation projects at local stadia a few years back and the actual cost of these works.
An inquiry by the MFA board of internal auditors found no evidence of wrongdoing but made a series of recommendations to ensure greater financial transparency, suggestions which have led the association to seek the advice of their external financial auditors on the best way to amend the procedures.
However, Adrian Delia, the Birkirkara president and one of the most outspoken members of the Premier Division Standing Committee (PDSC), insisted that the inquiry report left many questions unanswered and urged the association to commission an independent audit firm and architect to conduct a proper estimate of the works carried out at the indicated venues.
Both Dr Delia and George Galea, the president of Premier League side Mosta, who flagged the alleged irregularities, made it clear that they believe that the top MFA officials have nothing to do with this but stressed they are duty-bound to probe overcharging claims.
Heeding Dr Delia’s request to read the conclusions of the inquiry report, Norman Darmanin Demajo, the MFA president, insisted that the association is transparent and therefore had no problem showing the financial accounts for these projects upon request to which the Birkir-kara head promptly responded that he was accepting his invitation.
“There must be further inquiries to establish whether there was a massive discrepancy in the amounts of money spent on these projects vis-a-vis the actual costs of the works completed,” Dr Delia pointed out.
“If hundreds of thousands have been robbed from our clubs, I want them returned.
“Engage the services of an independent audit firm and they will tell us.
“The matter will only be closed when we receive assurances that put our minds at rest that the money spent by the MFA reflects the costs of the works done at these stadia.
“Only an independent architect can verify this.”
For his part, Galea confirmed Dr Delia’s declaration that had aired his concerns over the spiralling costs of construction works at the Mosta Stadium during a meeting with high-ranking Malta FA officials, namely Darmanin Demajo, outgoing general secretary Bjorn Vassallo and Chris Bonett, the outgoing vice-president, around five years ago.
Darmanin Demajo replied by asking Galea if, during that meeting, he had specifically mentioned the allegations raised by the PDSC earlier this year.
“What I told you at the time was that the costs of works on those walls (at Mosta stadium) were significantly less than what was actually paid,” Galea said. “And I know this because I’m involved in the construction industry.
“I also want to reiterate what I told to the board of inquiry that, in my opinion, the MFA officials are not implicated in this but only that the you were naive and under pressure to complete these works swiftly.”
Galea echoed Dr Delia’s call to commission an evaluation of the works by an independent architect.