Rumours about corruption in Maltese football abound year after year, competition after competition, game after game, but unless there is a concrete basis on which the police and the Malta Football Association can work on, there is little that could be done to bring the alleged offenders to book.

Yet the recent reports concerning bribes that were offered to “buy matches” do raise the alarm bells. This season, we had two cases that came to light, in different leagues, a clear indication that the practice is not happening only at top level, but also in the lower divisions.

We do not want to go into the particular details of cases that are still to be decided by the law courts. But at the same time the issue of corruption in football needs to be highlighted – simply because it needs to be tackled better.

Of course, the phenomenon is not restricted to Malta. Over the years there have been several instances when foreign top leagues were hit hard by corruption scandals that ended up with harsh sentences against clubs and players involved.

In nearby Italy, for example, it was only three years ago that the Serie A was involved in a hurricane of controversy which ended with a team being relegated, three others had points deducted and a good number of referees had their career cut short. Whether corruption in Italian football has been totally brought under control is, however, a question that remains.

Locally, there have been many instances – and not only this season – when the results of certain matches raised suspicions. But, as said earlier, unless the MFA and the police had something to work upon and investigate, it is always hard to prove that some kind of malpractice had taken place. Having a suspicion is one thing, proving it is an altogether different matter.

To be fair, each time that, in the past, corruption was proven, steps have been taken and the MFA was not lenient with the perpetrators. Yet new cases continue to come to light and it is probably high time for the MFA to review its disciplinary code and take an even harsher stand against those clubs and officials who are caught in the act.

The credibility of local football is at stake. If the aura of corruption that surrounds local football continues to grow – and is confirmed through cases that are made public (how many never see the light of day?) – football enthusiasts will continue to lose interest in the local game.

It is a known fact that local football cannot compete with other European leagues, and not only in terms of the interest generated. The results obtained by the national team and local clubs in international competitions make it clear that the levels reached here are far below those in other countries. The fact that, in more recent years, the Italian, English and German leagues are shown live on television has also affected the way local football is looked upon.

Now, if the local game gets other blows through the revelation of corrupt practices, then the future of Maltese football is, to say the least, rather bleak.

The MFA has to work much harder to clean up the local game, and the way it is perceived too. It is only by doing this that it could lift Maltese football out of the depths it has unfortunately reached, and try to give it a new lease of life.

What has happened and what is happening is certainly not a good example to the thousands of young people who practice the game in the many football nurseries that dot the island. These young footballers are the future of the game. If they lose their love for football because of such scandals, then one wonders what future local football can have.