The Malta FA have stepped up their fight against match-fixing with the launching of an educational programme for players and club officials in local football in a bid to raise more awareness on the threat posed by betting-related corruption.
The ‘Say No to Match-Fixing’ integrity tour gets under way on January 6 when the first leg from the programme will be held at Vittoriosa Stars. The cycle will come to a close on February 20 at Żurrieq.
The programme was unveiled yesterday by MFA head Norman Darmanin Demajo who said his organisation is obliged to protect players and officials from the match-fixing malady.
“We are aware of the threat that match-fixing poses to our sport,” Darmanin Demajo told reporters at the Centenary Hall in a meeting that was also attended by Emilio Garcia, the UEFA head of disciplinary and integrity services.
“As an association we believe that awareness and education are the first steps in responding to the perils match-fixing inevitably expose our players and officials to. The MFA has an obligation to protect players, present and future, and this is what this campaign is all about.
“With the support of our partners from Sportsradar and Betaland, along with the backing from UEFA, we shall embark on an integrity tour that we believe will be the blueprint of future campaigns designed to safeguard football.”
Sportradar and Betaland rank high among the world’s leading suppliers of sports-related data.
Darmanin Demajo admitted that the fight against corruption in sport was long but he was confident that with the right approach the Malta FA could prevail over the corrupt practices that could ruin the sport’s reputation without repair.
“We believe that providing education on this matter will be the first step towards the right direction,” Darmanin Demajo added.
“The fight against match-fixing will be hard but we must be ready to tackle this challenge for how long it takes. We are proud to be among the first associations to adopt this decisive stance.
“Although we have limited resources, we are thankful to have received so much support from various organisations and this fills us with more determination to continue with our quest to eradicate this malady from our game.”
Garcia praised the initiative taken by the Malta FA.
“I only have words of praise for the Maltese football association after taking up such an important initiative to introduce the integrity tour as from next month,” Garcia said.
“Malta is considered among the smallest of members at UEFA but this move puts the MFA in the fore-front in the fight against match-fixing. This initiative is a positive example for other associations across the continent to follow.
“UEFA is fully committed in maintaining a strong fight against match-fixers and such educational programmes gives us further encouragement to protect the sport we love so much.”
Franz Tabone, the MFA Inte-grity Officer, gave more details on the ‘Say No to Match-Fixing’ programme.
“We have contacted all clubs from the Premier League and First Division and the response was very encouraging,” Tabone said.
“A series of meetings has already been planned. Meetings will be open to players from the senior team down to the juniors category. Coaches and club officials will also be urged to attend.
“We shall tackle various areas on betting-related corruption and a discussion will ensue at the end of our presentation.”
Tabone added: “We know that match-fixing is tough to deal with and so we need the help of everyone, ranging from the highest authorities to law enforcers and the media. We are in this together and it is our responsibility to safeguard the game.”
Also present for the launching were Luigi Discornia, from Betaland, and Andreas Krannich, Sportsradar managing director.