Malta FA president Norman Darmanin Demajo is convinced that UEFA will resolve the match-fixing saga surrounding Malta’s Euro 2008 away qualifier against Norway after describing the evidence gathered by the MFA as “overwhelming”.

“The evidence is overwhelming,” he told a news conference.

“I believe that UEFA will be able to reach a conclusion.”

Norway-Malta, played at Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadium on June 2, 2007, was one of the matches mooted in the match-fixing trial of Ante Sapina, Marijo Cvrtak and other members of a Croatian betting syndicate last year.

In his testimony, Cvrtak told the District Court in Bochum that he met with four Maltese players before the said game.

Norway scored three goals in the final 18 minutes to beat Malta 4-0.

It has taken the Malta FA several months to complete its own inquiry as over 30 persons were questioned by Adrian Camilleri, the MFA’s prosecuting officer, and Franz Tabone, the integrity officer whose 500-page dossier on the case has been passed on to UEFA.

Darmanin Demajo yesterday shed light on the MFA inquest as he revealed that the association’s officials went to great lengths to unearth the truth, including speaking to persons who were involved in the betting ring behind this alleged case.

“The first time the game Norway-Malta was mentioned was when Sapina and Mario C. (Cvrtak) were being interrogated by the police in connection with the case involving German referee (Robert) Hoyzer,” Darmanin Demajo said.

“It emerged then that several games had been manipulated for match-fixing purposes. Our match was one of many rigged by this gang who had strong connections in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia.

“When these allegations surfaced, the MFA immediately contacted the police and UEFA as the match was a Euro qualifier.

“The process was not easy due to the fact that the match was played almost five years ago in Norway.

“This led to several difficult situations being encountered mainly because of issues related to legal jurisdiction.

“Furthermore, the complications grew because the investigations were being conducted by German police in Bochum.

“This was in summer and we were getting a bit frustrated because we were unable to move forward.

Trial transcripts

“But, in September, our integrity officer (Franz Tabone) attended a meeting at UEFA and it was there where, thanks to work and contacts made, we managed to make the arrangements to acquire transcripts of the trial.

“In October, we received the transcripts, in German, and it was at that point when our investigation really took off. We translated the document and handed a copy to the police.

“The internal investigations and interviews took three months as our prosecutor, and those who were involved in this probe, interrogated all those who were part of this game, not only those who played but also those who didn’t.

“The MFA’s dossier, containing over 500 pages, was finalised at the beginning of March.

“These procedures take their time, you can’t rush. It’s easy to tarnish the reputation of somebody and that can ruin a person’s life.”

Darmanin Demajo said the case has now been referred to UEFA who are expected to deliver a ruling by the end of this season.

The domestic season concludes on May 26-27 with the FA Trophy final.

“I can announce that, after discussions with top UEFA officials around Christmas – that was the period when we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel – UEFA informed us that, as the case involved a match that fell under its jurisdiction, it was going to proceed with this case in front of its Control and Disciplinary Board,” Darmanin Demajo said.

“As you know these are very delicate matters and, although we had pressure from various quarters, we feel that we’ve acted responsibly and banished any attempt to indulge in speculation that would have hampered the investigations.

“Thanks to the support of UEFA and the German police, we managed to meet persons who were directly involved in the alleged manipulation of this game. In the last few days, UEFA and MFA officials were present during interrogations with these persons.

“The MFA’s effort to combat corruption is maximum and we hope that this case will be concluded by UEFA quickly.

“Where do we go from here?

“UEFA will appoint a disciplinary commissioner to analyse all the evidence presented in the dossier.

“I can’t tell you exactly when this is going to be concluded but, barring complications, UEFA have told us that they should reach a conclusion by the end of this season.

“The issue is now beyond our control.

“Finally, I’d like to appeal to anyone has ever entertained the idea of getting involved in sports corruption not to do so and choose the right path for themselves and their families.

“Sport must remain clean and based on the principles of integrity and those who fail to adhere to these values must shoulder responsibility for their decisions.

“It saddens me that our country has been implicated in a match-fixing scandal on a national level.

“I hope that all this will be closed soon and that, out of this dark episode, lessons are learnt.”

The MFA president also intimated that the extensive investigations into the Norway-Malta case raised suspicions that other Malta matches may have also been targeted.

“There are suspicions that other matches may have been rigged,” Darmanin Demajo said.

“This has been a wake-up call that our football is under threat. The fight against match-fixing is one of our top priorities.

“God forbids that these gangs filter into our game, also on a domestic level. I was shocked when I learned about these allegations.

“It was a bolt out of the blue because I had no hint that these things were also happening in international football.”

Darmanin Demajo said that, as part of their investigation, the MFA officers interviewed not only players and the national team’s technical staff but also others who didn’t make the trip but may have had relevant information about the case.

Faced with a question as to why the Malta FA decided not to impose immediate bans on the main suspects, Darmanin Demajo replied: “We couldn’t take disciplinary action on the basis of allegations.”

The Malta police have also been probing the allegations but, until now, they haven’t charged anyone in connection with the case.

Mistaken identity

Bjorn Vassallo, the Malta FA CEO, revealed that, during the MFA investigations, it transpired that there was a mistake about the identity of a player who was originally implicated in the case.

“In the transcripts, one particular player was identified and had we made it public immediately, we would have stained his reputation for ever,” Vassallo said.

“During the evidence-gathering process, we discovered a mistake about the identity of this player.

“The German police and the witness indicated someone but it later emerged that they were not actually referring to him.

“We have since ratified this mistake. This was further confirmed when we carried out a photo identification exercise.”

Vassallo added that some inaccuracies that were traced during the course of the MFA investigations have helped to provide a clear picture of what actually happened.