The Malta Football Association’s integrity officer Franz Tabone said that Federbet – which monitors betting patterns – and S&D Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella do not have a strong base to allege that match-fixing in Malta is a “match-fixing exercise”, as has been claimed.

While not excluding that Malta’s football is totally “clean”, Mr Tabone said that one cannot reach a conclusion of this sort by simply monitoring betting patterns, the results of which are inconclusive.

“We need concrete proof, but neither Federbet nor Mr Tarabella has ever produced any hard evidence to corroborate their claims. All Mr Tarabella did is repeat his sensationalist claims based on identical reports by Federbet on match-fixing year after year to attract attention,” Mr Tabone said.

“Besides,” he continued, “Federbet’s betting monitoring system is inferior to its competitor, the very well established Sportradar.

“Sportradar has established itself in the monitoring of betting fraud. But as I have always stated, betting movements are not enough to prove match-fixing is taking place.

“Sportradar does not make any sweeping statements and acts in a cautious manner when it comes to issuing reports,” Mr Tabone continued.

Mr Baranca – the general secretary of Federbet – a non-profit federation based in Belgium, which is the representative body of gaming sector operators, told The Malta Independent on Sunday some two weeks ago that Malta’s football league championships are a match-fixing exercise.

His comments to this newsroom came after a report – Annual Fixed Matches Report 2015 – was published by Federbet which goes as far as stating that every week, the European betting houses remove en bloc matches from leagues like Malta, Albania, Cyprus, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Indonesia and Canada – the 10th least corrupt country in the world – because they clearly reflect signs of being fixed.

Mr Baranca – a jurist specialist in criminal law who served as legal councillor for some of the biggest betting companies in Europe including as head of their legal departments, apart from the fact that he is also an expert witness in a number of match-fixing cases – explained that betting patterns reveal that certain leagues are being fixed since it is obvious that when the odds get “crazy”, it is a sign that someone is attempting to fix a match.

Mr Baranca did point out that, in all fairness, Malta tried to do something about the situation; however it had a minimal effect.

“Football in Malta is dying a slow death. Players go to Malta to learn how to fix a game,” Mr Baranca said.

He also highlighted that two Malta football club officials were named in a match-fixing inquiry being held in Italy after more than 50 people were arrested or detained throughout Italy last month and more than 70 placed under investigation in an operation code-named Dirty Soccer.

The inquiry Mr Baranca refers to is part of a widespread match-fixing inquiry led by anti-Mafia prosecutors in the southern town of Catanzaro.

At a European parliamentary hearing held in late 2013, the same representative of Federbet had said that he was convinced that most championships in Cyprus, Malta or Uzbekistan were fixed. During the same debate, S&D Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella, the co-president of the Sport Intergroup at the European Parliament, had said that the EU’s law enforcement agency Europol had detected some 680 suspicious cases of fixed matches between 2008 and 2011 and the numbers were soaring.

This newsroom had asked Mr Tarabella what drove him to make such a statement on Malta and Cyprus. He said that the 2013 680 suspicious cases of match-fixing was enough potential evidence to draw a conclusion.

In the light of the Federbet report, the same MEP told an online Italian journal: “In some championships like Malta or Cyprus… the spectators are the only ones who do not know the final result.”

The countries highlighted in the Federbet report where it is impossible to bet are Albania, Cyprus, Malta, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Canada and Indonesia.

Mr Tabone said he is informed that a number of leading foreign clubs are seriously considering taking legal action against Federbet after having strongly objected to its unfounded allegations on clubs in Portugal and Italy.

UEFA to counter MEP’s claims at European Parliament level

Sources who spoke to this newsroom and who have close ties to UEFA told this newsroom that the European football association will be countering claims made by the Belgian MEP at European Parliament level in the weeks to come. 

Malta’s size facilitates ‘shady dealings’ in football leagues

Mr Tabone said that our country’s size facilitates “shady dealings” in our football leagues. Apart from this fact, he said that unfortunately, our football ‘culture’ is surrounded by the manipulative nature and outcome of certain matches.

 “This is not new to us; it’s been a known fact for years. We are frank about it these days and we refuse to sweep the issue under the carpet as has been done in the past.

“Speaking about it openly helps educate footballers and make them aware of the situation. If a player is approached, it’s bad enough since this may mean that the footballer is vulnerable.

“What’s ironic about all this is that sometimes witnesses are considered traitors while the guilty parties are the martyrs,” he said.

An example of this, he explained, is that some footballers who testified against their teammates in the past are now vilified for life while others who succumbed to corrupt practices are treated like “kings”.

He said that once a footballer enters the circle of match-fixing, there’s no way out.

“At the end of the day, it is up to the actors in the field – the footballers and referees – who must take it on themselves not to fall for match-fixing.

“Match-fixing could also be instigated by certain clubs; today we have a situation where people with a criminal background are trying to maximise on betting profits.

“It is crucial that we reunite to beat these scoundrels and have honest people come forward and make their voice heard,” Mr Tabone said.

On the Belgian MEP, he said that it is not expected of an MEP to come out with such unfounded claims without having a solid base.

MFA to face MEP to ask for hard evidence

Mr Tabone said that the MFA recently attended an Integrity Round-Table meeting held at an EU office in Malta in the presence of PN MEP Therese Commodini Cachia who “now has a better understanding of the situation”.

He said the MFA also intends holding a meeting with the Belgian MEP in Brussels to discuss the issue after having made a request to do so. “Tarabella should say what happened to the 680 matches which he alleges were fixed, where the claims originated from and who the perpetrators are. It is only if he does this, that we could say he really cares about football. The MFA is prepared to listen to everyone and act on hard evidence within its sporting jurisdiction,” he said.

Other stakeholders, he said, would be invited to attend this meeting, placing the MFA in the forefront in its battle against match-fixing. The MFA has already engaged in various educational campaigns to try and combat this crime and intends intensifying it fight.

Turning to Mr Baranca, Mr Tabone said that he has been in contact with him all along and he has never presented any hard facts on match-fixing in Malta, “something we both have difficulty to prove”.

“Mr Baranca should hand over any information he has that could lead to the perpetrators being caught to law enforcement agencies,” he stressed.

Mr Tabone concluded: “For us to follow-up on match-fixing allegations, we need to have proof of illicit dealings. The FA has limited tools to fight this crime and therefore it is also in the interest of the authorities to follow up any leads, since they are ultimately responsible to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“But for starters, local enforcement agencies have to understand the background of match-fixing. It is not only about betting; it is also about the manipulation of results in a bid to achieve sporting or monetary success.”