Ħamrun Spartans have made an official request to the Malta FA to annul a Council decision this week which overturned an Executive Committee ruling regarding payment terms of a fine handed to the Division One club following a match-fixing case.
In summer, the Spartans were slapped with a seven-point penalty and a fine of €10,000 after two former committee members were found guilty of rigging seven Premier League matches in 2012-13.
On Tuesday, MFA president Norman Darmanin Demajo told Council members that Ħamrun had asked for the November 3 deadline to pay the €10,000 fine to be extended mainly due to financial difficulties.
After considering all options, the executive committee granted the club a concession that would see them pay the fine in two instalments – €5,000 by November 3 and the remaining €5,000 by December 31.
However, when the issue cropped up during the Council meeting of Tuesday, some club delegates showed their disap-proval and argued that the decision severely undermined the Malta FA’s stance against match-fixing.
A motion put forward by Birkirkara FC representative Adrian Delia to cancel the Exco decision and revert to the original sentence eventually received a strong vote of approval by the Council, thus forcing the Spartans to pay their fine in full by November 3.
Sources told Times of Malta yesterday that Ħamrun were clearly unhappy with Tuesday’s proceedings and in their letter of complaint, the club showed their disapproval and asked the Malta FA to over-rule the Council’s motion as it went against the statute.
Ħamrun are arguing that if the Council’s decision was to stay, it would create a serious precedent that jeopardises the powers of the Executive Committee as in future their rulings could be challenged by club delegates in a council meeting.
Ħamrun also emphasised that their move to ask for more time to pay their dues was according to the rules of the MFA, citing article 139 which says time limit for payment of fines may “for a good reason be extended by the Executive Committee.”