The police will be “taking steps” against several people over celebrations which took place at an establishment in Hamrun over the weekend after the locality’s football team won a match against Birkirkara FC.

Footage emerged on Saturday of celebrations showing fans celebrating Hamrun's win over Birkirkara, which keeps the Spartans at the top of the table. The new footage shows club president and Gozitan property magnate Joseph Portelli lighting a cigarette inside a catering establishment. He also is not shown wearing a mask. 

In a statement, the police said that they had spoken to a number of people including a shop owner over the breach of regulations concerning the wearing of face masks and smoking inside.

Police said that they would be taking steps against a number of people, after the police investigated the contents of a video posted to social media from inside an establishment in Hamrun.

The establishment has a snack bar license, police said, but nonetheless the Malta Tourism Authority was advised and issued an enforcement notice accordingly.

The police said that over the course of the end of last week they had carried out a number of patrols in Hamrun to ensure that grouping of people was avoided as part of any celebrations.

In fact, police said, that no street celebrations were reported and establishments which only have a bar license were found to be closed and in conformity with the current legal notice. 

It is the second time in two weeks that Hamrun has fallen foul of Malta’s Covid-19 regulations.

Two weeks ago spontaneous celebrations that erupted in the streets of Ħamrun as well as a club after the Spartans won a key match against Valletta FC were put under the microscope after footage appeared on social media showing fans disregarding regulations. It is not known if fines have been issued.