Although the currency has changed, football bribery has been a decades-long problem for the police. Photo: Shutterstock

Football bribery was criminalised in 1946 but with human ingenuity for corruption knowing no bounds the law had to be changed 18 years later.

Cabinet minutes from June 1964 showed that the post-war ordinance was ineffective and the police commissioner wanted the law to be tightened.

Ministers gave approval for amendments that would have made bribery an offence the moment an offer was made to “whomsoever”.

A Cabinet memo explained that until then the police had difficulty arraigning perpetrators when the bribery proposal was made through a third party.

The police commissioner said that in most cases the attorney general had advised there was no legal case for prosecution.

At the time bribery of a player carried a jail term of not less than four months and no more than 30 months. A fine of £500 could also be imposed.

The memo noted that the police commissioner had not given details as to the frequency of the offence but used the words “experience has shown” to justify the changes to the law.

The minister took this to mean that the offence was “often committed” and the proposed amendments would help nip the problem in the bud.

The objective of the changes was to address football bribery committed through a third person even though the bribe would not have reached the player concerned.

At the time, bribing a player carried a four to 30-month jail term and £500 fine

The minutes and memo form part of the Cabinet papers made public for the first time by the government. Documents for the 1960s and 1970s administrations are found at the National Archives in Rabat.

Of particular note is the expediency with which this particular memo was discussed by Cabinet.

It was submitted for consideration on June 9, 1964 and discussed by ministers in the Cabinet meeting on June 16.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com