Three players were yesterday provisionally suspended by the Malta FA Executive Committee over allegations of match-fixing, sources told The Times last night.
They are Gaetan Spiteri, Jermain Brincat and Chris Brincat.
Spiteri, who joined Qormi on a season-long loan from Ħamrun Spartans last summer, has been banned in connection with the Malta FA’s investigation into claims of bribery attempts before last season’s Premier League second-round match between Ħamrun Spartans and Sliema Wanderers. The game, played in February, ended 1-1.
Earlier this month, Julian Briffa, who began last season with Sliema Wanderers before moving to Mqabba in January, was also hit with a provisional ban after being implicated in the Sliema-Ħamrun scandal.
The suspension of Jermain Brincat, who is on the books of Floriana, and his brother Chris, a Floriana futsal player who is also a member of the national squad, is believed to be linked to the MFA’s probe into match-fixing allegations surrounding the Division One game between Gżira United and Naxxar Lions which was played on September 28.
The members of the Malta FA Executive Committee imposed the provisional bans during their monthly meeting yesterday after receiving separate reports from Adrian Camilleri, the association’s prosecuting officer, about the two match-fixing cases.
Dr Camilleri proposed that the three players be suspended provisionally and his recomm-endations were endorsed by the MFA Executive Committee who have passed the cases to the association’s Board to adjudicate charges related to bribery and illegal betting in football.
Jermain Brincat, 26, and his brother Chris, 27, are facing bribery charges over the Naxxar-Gżira match, which finished 2-2.
It is understood that the two brothers, who play for neither of the two Division One clubs at the centre of this match-fixing saga, must respond to accusations of being part of a group of people who tried to bribe a Naxxar Lions player.
Reports claim that the match-fixing attempt, which surfaced on the day of the game, was master-minded by a man who is a public officer. As this person is not a member of a club committee, the Malta FA can’t take disciplinary action against him.
The Times has information that both cases involved whistle-blowers who are co-operating with the investigating officers.
The police have also been holding independent invest-igations into the above-mentioned match-fixing cases and a number of people are expected to be arraigned in court in the coming months.
With Maltese football still coming to terms with the ramifications of the Norway-Malta match-fixing case, which led to midfielder Kevin Sammut being slapped with a 10-year ban by UEFA in August, the latest scandals will be seen as a further blow for the local game.
But, on the other hand, these cases, apart from serving as an eye-opener, are testament to the Malta FA’s zero-tolerance stance against corruption in football.
The setting up of an Integrity Office, headed by Franz Tabone, has clearly strengthened the MFA’s drive to combat bribery as tips and information on match-fixing are vigorously pursued by the association’s officials who are also collaborating closely with the police.
Procedure
The Malta FA Exco’s decision to suspend the implicated players immediately, pending the outcome of the relevant board’s inquiry, is likely to receive the thumbs-up from the majority of followers of the local game.
But, at the same time, it raises questions as to why the association didn’t follow the same procedure when it completed its painstaking probe into the Norway-Malta bribery claims.
Yet, while the two domestic matches under investigation fall under the sole jurisdiction of the Malta FA, the disciplinary process in the Norway-Malta case was handled by UEFA as the game in question was a Euro 2008 qualifier.
Sammut, who last played for Valletta, has lodged an appeal against his 10-year suspension while UEFA’s disciplinary inspector is calling on the governing body of European football to impose a lifetime ban on the Maltese midfielder.
The UEFA inspector is also appealing the Control and Disciplinary Board’s decision to acquit defender Steve Wellman and Kenneth Scicluna of match-fixing accusations.