A contract for Bayern Munich to play in Malta in 2000 was edited with the original amount being covered in correction fluid and a new amount written on it with a biro, a court heard yesterday.

MFA President Norman Darmanin Demajo was testifying in a libel case instituted against him by his predecessor, Joe Mifsud, after a 2008 letter sent by Darmanin Demajo asking the MFA to investigate claims of corruption and misappropriation of funds. The court is at the same time hearing another libel case instituted by Dr Mifsud against journalists Kurt Sansone and Mark Attard, who reported on Darmanin Demajo's letter. At the time both were employed at Malta Today.

Mr Darmanin Demajo said he was elected MFA President in August 2010. He had not been part of the executive since 2000, when he was treasurer.

In 2000 he sent a letter to the MFA asking it to investigate claims of misappropriation of UEFA funds that were supposed to be distributed between local football clubs. No investigation was carried out at the time and Dr Mifsud had simply called for a vote of confidence. The MFA President said he knew that misappropriation was a crime but he did not think to call in the police.

"I did not say that Mifsud took the money for himself, I am saying that when he was president of the MFA he misappropriated money that was to be distributed to local clubs," said Darmanin Demajo, adding that it is possible that Mifsud might not have taken them for his personal use.

In 2008, feeling irritated by claims by Dr Mifsud that he had damaged the MFA, Darmanin Demajo again called for an investigation. Mr Darmanin Demajo said Joe Mifsud had been present for the 2008 investigation and admitted that there was misappropriation. "The MFA had decided to deduct an amount of the EUFA funds and keep them to itself for five or six years. After my second report, in 2008, the MFA stopped doing this and started distributing all the money to clubs."

When asked by Dr Mifsud's lawyer Paul Lia if he had given information to foreign news agencies, Mr Darmanin Demajo said that the international media had picked up the story after his 2000 letter. The reports had claimed that four members of the FIFA Executive, including Joe Mifsud, had sold their votes for the 2006 World Cup host nation.

He added that, when he was MFA treasurer, he had objected to a $250,000 cheque from Bayern Munich to play in Malta. The cheque came in "from out of the blue" and had been signed four months before. This was unacceptable, Mr Darmanin Demajo said. Furthermore, the cheque had had the original amount covered in tipp-ex and the new amount - that of $250,000 - was written over it with a biro.

Subsequently, the international media picked up the story and it was alleged that the full amount paid by Bayern Munich was $300,000. The money had been paid into a trust account.

Mr Darmanin Demajo said he had been contacted by the BBC's Andrew Jannings and he told him what he knew. Prior to this he had even been contacted by a number of local journalists. He denied having ever met Fr Hilary Tagliaferro or Tony Formosa to discuss the case and said he did not know if it was true that they were paid £5,000 to reveal information.