It has been another appalling week for Maltese football.
The previous one was characterised by the news that four Maltese national team players were implicated in an alleged bribery case.
A court testimony during a trial in Bochum revealed that the Norway-Malta clash that was played in the qualifying round of the Euro 2008 championship was allegedly fixed. It was reported that the Maltese players were approached in their hotel to lose by four goals or more, and lose by four goals they did. An investigation has been launched by the Malta Football Association, and one hopes it will be a quick one.
This past week has also been a shameful one for Maltese football in another sense. The way the FA Trophy final ended is a real bad example of lack of sportsmanship. What is perhaps even worse is that the controversy has continued throughout the week, and it came from quarters that should know better.
The MFA has taken drastic action following the incidents at the end of the Floriana-Valletta encounter. Terrence Scerri, the Valletta player who was caught on camera kicking at a Floriana player who had been pushed to the ground by other Valletta team-mates, was suspended for one whole year, plus another five trophy matches. It was the least that the association could do to use the incident as a deterrent. Its harsh punishment will go a long way to calm players down.
A number of Valletta supporters have also been charged in court for their misbehaviour inside the stadium. Calls for harsher punishments when such incidents occur are now being considered.
The after-match comments, which dragged on to the middle of the week when a gala event was held to honour the best players of the season, unfortunately rubbed salt into the wound that had been opened on Sunday. They only served to continue to inflame supporters and increase the bad feelings that exist between the two sets of supporters. Rivalry is good in football, but hatred is not.
People in certain responsible positions should be the first to set an example – a good one, that is – but instead they chose the other way. The MFA would do well to look into the matter and possibly even punish the perpetrators.
Luckily, we are at the end of the season, and one hopes that these next few weeks of rest will serve to lower tempers and give one the opportunity to look at things from a distance.
Maltese football has been a big loser in the last two weeks.