Infamous footballer Ronnie Mackay was sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined €2,000 after the court found him guilty of match-fixing.

This is not Mackay’s first brush with the law, when last October he was convicted of a separate match-fixing case. This morning’s case relates to an international under 21 match against Montenegro. He was also found to have made several attempts to bribe players in a another game, against Czech Republic, in March 2016.

In its concluding remarks, the court called for harsher penalties when persons have been found to be guilty of sport-related corruption.

The case dates back to 26 March 2016, when the police were informed by the Malta Football Association’s Integrity officer about the possibility of match-fixing taking place. In response to the allegations, several players were approached in order, and it was found that one particular player had indeed been approaching others team members to take part in a scheme.

Seyble Zammit, the player identified as having approached others, was subsequently arrested and charged in April 2016. He never served prison time however after agreeing to assist police investigations as a whistleblower. Through Zammit’s valuable information, and a few other sources who came forward, the police identified Mackay as being the chief architect behind the match-fixing set up.

In a previous court hearing related to this case, the court heard how Mackay had cited gambling addiction and unscrupulous company as being the reason for him resorting to match-fixing schemes. He also told the court that at the time, he had also found out his girlfriend was unfaithful, adding to his woes.

The court also heard that as a result of all this, he had left his family in “financial ruins”, with three banks and various loan sharks chasing him to repay hefty debts. Back in 2013, he was imprisoned for 18 months for match-fixing. Having failed to settle any debts through the botched match-fixing attempt, Mackay said that he was again in dire straits as nobody was ready to employ him due to the criminal record.

In separate testimony, Mackay asserted to have been approached by Zammit in February 2016, offering him to bet on a First division match, but this was initially refused by the former.

Magistrate Jose Mifsud, presiding over the case, went into great detail on various legal doctrines relating to evaluation of witness evidence, especially in the light of the fact that Zammit was co-accused.

The Magistrate stressed the fact that it approached Zammit’s testimony with caution, in line with the law that establishes strict criteria for when such evidence was admissible as evidence.

In its considerations, the court observed that Mackay had ample opportunities to cooperate and coordinate with the police, and benefit from whistleblower protection as was the case with Zammit.

The fact that Mackay left Malta the very moment it was made known that Zammit was to be charged over match-fixing suspicions shed a dubious light on the alleged lack of Mackay’s involvement and his version of events that he was approached by Zammit.

Magistrate Mifsud said beyond non-cooperation with the police, the accused had also tried to mislead the authorities in their investigations.

It had emerged that Zammit was the “runner” in the operation, meaning that it made sense for many other players to mention him as the person who approached them, the court observed.

It transpired that Mackay found the financier, an Asian man, and took care of arrangements to bring him to Malta. The court stressed that this exposes a link to organised crime outside of Malta.

In a previous testimony of Samir Arab, an Egyptian footballer in Malta, the court observed the significance of what was said in order to establish that the offer to intentionally lose the game was made by moth Mackay and Zammit.

Magistrate Mifsud called for harsher punishments for corruption in sport, especially because of the damage caused to Malta’s sporting reputation, both presently and for the future. He also called for those convicted of such crimes to be given a life-time ban on attending sporting events.

In addition to the two year prison sentence and the €2,000 fine, Mackay was also ordered to pay court expenses amounting to €1,624.

Mackay’s high profile lawyer, Giannella de Marco, made it known that the defence team will be filing an appeal against the judgment.