The IĠM has received a complaint from four sports journalists concerning the recent behaviour of the president of the Malta Football Association regarding a report on the association's volunteer programme for sports photographers.

The IĠM and MSJA said that they have seen the right of reply by the MFA, in English and in Maltese, to the news outlet Malta Sport as well as a letter sent to AiMS Chairman Antonio Mizzi complaining about the behaviour of two of its employees and a private text message sent by MFA President Bjorn Vassallo to one of the complainants.

"While any entity is free to publish a right of reply to correct any mistakes in reporting, a right of reply is not a space to attack or bully journalists. This applies to all categories of journalism. The IĠM and MSJA condemn the tone used in the Maltese version of the right of reply against three of the complainants, especially given that they only expressed their opinion on social media and did not contribute to the reportage."

"The IĠM and MSJA also condemn the MFA President's text message sent privately to one of the four complainants, which ends with an inappropriate 'Rest in peace' ('Strieħ fil-paċi'). This, coupled with the MFA President's letter to AiMS about two of the complainants, who are also employed with the authority, can be considered an attempt to personally intimidate the complainants for expressing an opinion online. The IĠM and MSJA hope that the MFA will retract the part of the right of reply that singles out the complainants and be more responsible in the future when responding to criticism."