A court this morning turned down a libel complaint made by the former chairman of the Malta Football Association, Joe Mifsud, against Robert Arrigo MP, former president of Sliema Wanderers, and The Malta Independent.

Dr Mifsud had complained about an article published on May 17, 2005 entitled The MFA and the EU.

Dr Mifsud had claimed that the article made false allegations, claiming that as MFA president he had a political agenda and that he had tried to ridicule the EU and those who represented the PN.

Mr Arrigo said the article constituted fair comment with no malicious intent.

The court found that the article complained of constituted comment based on facts, including the fact that after Malta joined the EU, the MFA had introduced rules which limited the number of foreign players . The EU had considered these rules as a violation of its regulations and had sought the views of the Maltese governemnt before considering infringement proceedings.

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