The rumble of drums.

The clattering of feet. 

The screaming, the clapping, the fervour, the passion. 

The waving of flags.  The benjamini clad in colours! 

No, this is not a tribal battle-cry, it is a football match about to start! 

Morris (1981) in his classic work, ‘The Soccer Tribe’ interprets the beautiful game as a clash of colours, of traditions, of passions, of beliefs and in some cases of community narratives. 

The hymns, the fanfare of the brass band that accompanies every good exchange, the banners they display are awe-inspiring.   He writes about the way the fans dress up the stadium before every football game as if they’re clothing their baby for an evening out at the grandparents!   Morris is fascinated by the way the supporters take the football game to heart, with love, fervour and dedication. 

Now this is where the bubble bursts!   

It seems as if all this infatuation with the local game is grinding to a halt as it comes under intense scrutiny.  The accusations of corruption, of incompetence, of illegal and legal betting are tainting football in Malta, making it feel dirty and it risks spiralling out of furtherance. 

Recently the Sliema Coach, Stephen Azzopardi, wrote the following posting on his Facebook Page. 

“I find it very hard to understand what Maltese football supporters want from us coaches, players and administrators. If the best teams win they say that there is a conspiracy for the same clubs to win championships and attain a position for UEFA participation. ‘Kollox mahdum’ they scream! If the smaller teams make inroads and sometimes spring a surprise there is corruption! If many goals are scored it is betting. If few goals, then it is boring football. If players run they must have a bonus from another team. If they walk they are losing on purpose. If a team passes through a bad patch it means they are not motivated, according to the conspiracy theories! Well, I can assure the general public that there are many of us who are clean, honest and love football!

By the way, yesterday Sliema Wanderers with nine missing players (Michael Mifsud, Clifford Gatt Baldacchino, Aidan Friggieri, Daniel Balzan, Wisdom Ifeanyi, Pedro Calcado, Clive Psaila, Julio Alcorse and Mark Scerri), with a minors’ player utilised for the full 90 minutes, with another youth team player coming in during the game, with eight nursery products, with two Under 17 players in the squad and with some players not fully fit managed to play an excellent match and fought till the end to obtain a draw. Unfortunately, most of what I heard and read was about Birkirkara’s troubles. Humbly I believe the players, Technical Staff and the coach merit a pat on the back!”    (Sliema Coach Stephen Azzopardi’s FB Page)

And this made me mull over.

·         Is local football that corrupt? 

·         Are our game officials crooked?

·         Are our club administrators so ‘skilled’ at messing up? 

·         Is legal and illegal betting conditioning the game to such extremes? 

·         Are the players getting organized on the pitch in a way that the result takes a twist every time they decide to do so? 

·         Is this game freezing out of oblivion?

·         Is our Association so estranged by all that is happening?

If there is any truth in what is being alleged - then let’s do something about it. 

If these accusations are in part perception - then it’s the time for the MFA to come clean and let us know what is true and what isn’t.

If the MFA does not come down like a ton of bricks on whatever wrong doing there is, it simply means that such spirited appeals, hard work and commitment by so many people like the Sliema Coach and many others involved in the distinct echelons of the game will go wasted – oh, and football will die an inherent death!

“MFA, the ball is in your field of play.”