Yesterday’s news item about Birzebbuga St Peters being fined Lm7,000 carried in The Malta Independent was like a bolt coming out of the blue.

I must say it took me completely my surprise and I believe even some of the top brass at MFA headquarters must have shaken their heads in disbelief.

Yes, second division side Birzebbuga St Peter’s have been fined a staggering Lm7,000 (the minimum) by the MFA’s Disciplinary Board for racist insults hurled by a few supporters during the club’s Youth League match against Sliema Wanderers recently.

The fine was imposed by the Board after they applied the new international rules on racism offences.

It must have been a difficult decision for the Board to take and I am informed that it was not taken unanimously. I am informed that two members, at least, did not vote in favour of the staggering fine.

Yet, it is strange to hear that a local club has been fined that amount, when it is also known that this club’s – and probably also the other second division teams on this island – have a budget which does not exceed Lm10,000. Such a decision could mean the extinction of this small club as it is more than obvious that they will not be able to pay such a huge amount.

I have been in sports journalism for the last 40 years or so and I have never heard anything like this in my career.

I am not writing to criticise the Board for taking such a decision. If they had rules to follow and apply, they must have done the right thing.

I firmly believe that UEFA and FIFA did the right thing in imposing drastic measures to try and curb this plague which has hit most of European football in recent years.

Yet, such a decision, in my opinion, does not make sense. Do not tell me that if Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Milan had to face a similar charge, they would also be fined the same amount. I do not think it is fair to put every European team at par, especially on such occasions. Even if it had to be one of our top Premier League clubs, for that

matter.

No one, not even FIFA president Sepp Blatter or UEFA boss Lennart Johansson, can ever make the slightest of comparisons between the earnings of Europe’s top clubs and those at the very bottom of the continent’s lowest level in the field of football. And in this case, it is only fair to ask what are Birzebbuga’s earnings throughout a season! I sincerely doubt whether they get any revenue from gate-money. It is more probable they they fork out money out of their own pockets to take part in the MFA third division league.

Moreover, I have been informed of what Birzebbuga have been charged with. Of course, I cannot reproduce the words here. And I can honestly say they are not the nicest of words. I am also told that such words are heard frequently among players taking part in our competitions – both white and black players.

So far, if I am not mistaken, few players, if ever, have been charged with racism insults, especially since the new rules came into force.

On the other hand, I do not think it is right or fair for any person – player or supporter – to indulge in such insulting behaviour – especially when no policeman is in sight as might probably have been the case in the Birzebbuga-Sliema Youth league match. Was the MFA Disciplinary Board certain or rather, were they given a guarantee that those who hurled the racist insults towards the Sliema players were Birzebbuga supporters?

We cannot remain naïve when facing certain abuses over which clubs cannot have any sort of control. This case should be taken as an example by our local football authorities. It is easy for anyone to hurl any kind of insult from the stands. We have now become accustomed to that in all parts of the world – unfortunately foul language is the order of the day in most of the world’s stadiums these days and it can also be heard on radio and TV these days!

But it is absurd to have a club shouldering such a responsibility. This is something completely different from cases where a large number of supporters indulges in some violent act during a football match.

This case has shown that a revision of these new rules has to be considered immediately. In my opinion, there have to be fines for such offences, but these have to be proportionate with the clubs’ revenue in each and every country.