Integrity officer Franz Tabone’s statement whipped up a storm.

The police have received no new claims about match-fixing despite a damning report which said that corruption in Maltese football was rife.

Early last month Malta Football Association integrity officer Franz Tabone stoked controversy when he claimed the local game was “infested” with corruption. In a newsletter he alleged some clubs were relying on internet betting for their financial survival, by manipulating games involving their own team.

However, the only case which has surfaced since then was the one involving Nadur Youngsters’ secretary Anthony Portelli and a 34-year-old man from Għarb. Both men were fined and handed a suspended jail term 10 days ago after admitting to trying to bribe two football players in the Gozitan league a few days earlier.

Subsequently, fresh allegations have surfaced: Swieqi FC goalkeeper Matthew Mulholland last week claimed an unidentified person offered him €500 to “get sent off” during a league game against Żejtun Corinthians.

Żejtun denied any involvement and urged the Malta Football Association and the police to look into the claims.

The police are not actively investigating any cases but they are keeping a close eye on the latest development

However, the police yesterday told Times of Malta that they were not actively investigating any cases, but said they were keeping a close eye on the latest development.

The issue has been raised in Parliament by Opposition spokesmen including Robert Cutajar, who asked Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela about the number of match-fixing cases reported to the police in the current season.

In his reply on January 19, Mr Abela said the police had received no such reports up until then.

In the wake of Mr Tabone’s declarations, an anti-corruption task force was set up, with the involvement of the major stakeholders including the MFA, government, Opposition, the gaming watchdog and the police.

In their first meeting last week they agreed on a draft action plan to toughen penalties against match-fixing, give more investigative powers to the police and roll out a series of educational campaigns at the grassroots level.

On the other hand, clubs have persistently denied any wrongdoing, while challenging the MFA official to substantiate his claims.

#Times Talk tonight will debate the match-fixing allegations that have rocked the football scene. The show starts at 6.45pm on TVM.