Unfortunately, local football is passing through one of its worst phases in history. I’m not referring to the standard of play, which also leaves much to be desired, but to the great mess it is in due to the various corruption cases that have cropped up in recent years.
The word “corruption” is, regrettably, very popular in sport due to the huge sums of money that are mentioned in between genuine results. This malady is found wherever there’s competition. And we’re not an exception here in Malta! Throughout the years we have had nasty stories about corruption in sport although very few were found guilty of bribing.
In recent years two cases have marred the beauty of the game in Malta. These two cases helped in no small way to increase the indifference and reduce interest among local supporters. Many deserted our stadia because they had had enough of similar rumours and decided to stick to the media for any information about the local game.
At the same time, interest has flourished in international football, which is, shall we say, not immune to similar or even bigger scandals, but certainly more pleasing to watch.
What I find very strange is the way local sports media has tackled the two cases here in Malta. The only information given by all media were the publishing of press releases that were issued every now and then. Any reader, listener or viewer was not given the opinion about the cases of sports editors and presenters.
Although I know that they knew much more about what really happened, they seemed to be afraid to give their view on the two cases, maybe because they did not want to get involved between clubs, players and the administration.
For me this is no investigative journalism at all. This was simply serving as a notice board. Sports followers expected more investigation on the matter to form a better opinion of what was really taking place. The only interesting reading came from outside the sports desks and was not published on the sports pages. How ironic!
Sports editors and presenters find it comfortable to print and broadcast stories about similar cases happening abroad but failed miserably to tackle this local story. All those who wanted to hear the outcome of the two cases were left in the dark, simply because the administration took ages to deliver the first verdict.
Months of uncertainty prevailed because very few knew what was going on. Relegated teams hoped for the best. Teams almost promoted were keeping their fingers crossed that, by hook or by crook, they would make it to a higher division. This was not fair on anyone. Let us not forget that almost a year has passed from the day the cases were revealed.
This is certainly not a healthy situation. The worst hit was the image of local football. It deserves much better from everyone concerned.
George Gatt
SLIEMA