Msida St Joseph’s calls to postpone the start of the Premier League until investigations in bribery allegations are concluded have fallen on the MFA’s deaf ears, as the Malta Football Association plans to go ahead as scheduled, with the opening match to be played on Friday.
Earlier this month, Msida president Robert Micallef said the club had requested that the start of the championship be postponed until the board of investigation reaches a conclusion on alleged corruption cases pertaining to last season.
But the MFA has ignored the plea and the league will start as programmed on Friday with the match between Valletta and Birkirkara. The association did not issue any statements in reply to Msida’s request, and did not reply to questions sent by e-mail by The Malta Independent on Sunday.
This newspaper asked whether the MFA was considering Msida’s request and, if yes, when would it take a decision. No answers were received in spite of reminders sent and, when contacted by phone, an MFA spokesman said that “no statements will be issued regarding Msida’s request”. No explanation was given as to why the MFA is taking such a stand.
The MFA is therefore “ignoring” a plea made by one of the clubs that could eventually benefit from the judgment made by the investigative board. Msida, which was relegated from the Premier League last season, could technically be “brought back up” to the top division to replace Marsaxlokk or Vittoriosa, two Premier League clubs that are being accused of attempted bribery.
Chaos could ensue if either of the two clubs, or both, are relegated once the new season starts.
In the press conference, Mr Micallef had said that the club had written to the MFA to complain about the delay in the administration of justice. In spite of an admission in the Law Courts, the board of investigation set up by the MFA is still to conclude its inquiry into a match that was played last November.
Last March, Marsaxlokk committee member Peter Hartshorne and midfielder Claude Mattocks pleaded guilty in court of attempting to bribe rival goalkeeper. They were sentenced to four months jail suspended for a year for trying to bribe Msida St Joseph keeper Matthew Camilleri. The Premier League match, played on 23 November, ended in a 1-1 draw.
The board of investigation is also holding an inquiry into another allegation of match fixing, this time in the First Division match Vittoriosa-St George’s, played in December. Vittoriosa have since been promoted to the Premier League.
The MFA, through its president Joe Mifsud, is insisting that the league, which starts on Friday, is “regular”, but sources that have spoken to The Malta Independent on Sunday believe that since the classification of last season’s league is not final because of the pending inquiry, the league starting on Friday is “not regular”.
Once a match is still sub judice because of a pending investigation, so is the league classification, sources said.