There was a serious incident at the judo hall during the competition.

A Cypriot judoka who was among the spectators felt the referee officiating a match involving his team, had made a mistake and started shouting abuse at him, causing havoc and also some damage. It was also reported that he had spit in the direction of the official.

He was immediately removed from the hall by a number of police officers, but on the way out, he was also involved in some scuffles with the police.

Malta Judo Association president Envic Galea, who is also a member of the Executive Committee of the EJA, and among those involved in the administration of the tournament, ordered that the Cypriot athlete be taken to his hotel room and kept under continuous custody.

The judoka was then suspended by the organising committee. Galea also said that the official might have made a mistake, but the judoka could never be justified to resorting to that threatening attitude.

The Cypriot squad was threatened with exclusion from the tournament were the same judoka to commit the smallest of offences in the hotel.

It is to be noted that the same Cypriot judoka had been involved in a similar incident during the Malta Games in 2003.

And it is also known that Malta had lodged a complaint against the refereeing on the first day of the tournament here.