There has been a "major surge" in the number of positive doping tests coming from Maltese sport in recent weeks, Kevin Azzopardi, the CEO of the authority which regulates sport in Malta, told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

In an interview with this newspaper, Azzopardi spoke about the work being done to combat doping, match-fixing, and making life easier for the league of volunteers who are the backbone of Maltese sports.

Established in 2022, the Authority for Integrity in Maltese Sport (AIMS) is essentially the regulator of sport in Malta, ensuring good governance in any sporting organisation - ranging from national associations to clubs - and handling integrity-related issues such as anti-doping, match fixing, and safeguarding.

Kevin Azzopardi - a name which will ring a bell with football enthusiasts - has been the authority's CEO for close to three months, having been appointed via a public call. He is perhaps best known for having been a football referee in a career that spanned 18 years and saw him officiate matches both locally and abroad, but he also served as the secretary general of the Maltese Olympic Committee at a time when the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSEs) came to Malta in 2023 and when Malta won the bid to host the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2027.

As AIMS CEO now, Azzopardi told this newspaper in an interview of how he has brought his own ideas to the post and made a number of internal changes to make the authority more efficient.

But the priority so far, he said, has been to get all associations and clubs registered. The law stipulates that by 31 December 2025 all sports organisations on the island needed to be registered with AIMS.

So far, 56 national associations have been registered, leaving 10 still to go. "Practically all of those 10 have started the process to register though, so for us, being that this was the first time, that's also a green light," Azzopardi said.

There are then around 400 sports clubs across every discipline peppered around the island. Azzopardi said that some 320 of those have either completed or started the registration process. He said that AIMS still has to check how many of those yet to register are in actual fact active, but said that the absolute priority is for all organisations to be fully registered by mid-2026.

Tip-offs driving uptick in positive doping test finds - Azzopardi

One of the functions undertaken by AIMS since its establishment is the responsibility of policing doping in sports.

This used to fall under the remit of the National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO), but now falls under AIMS - however still enjoys a "limited degree of autonomy".

Asked about the authority's efforts on this front, Azzopardi says that the authority's mission is "to ensure that Maltese sport is as clean and safe as possible".

"Will we succeed 100%? I would be joking if I tell you that we will - it's impossible because human behaviour is unpredictable and some people will still play up, irrespective of the education we provide. But we believe that increasing our efforts is money well invested because we are adamant to have clean and safe sport, and we feel duty bound that the younger generation coming up is raised in a safe sporting environment," he said.

There has, in fact, been an increase in the number of doping tests administered year-on-year since the anti-doping functions came under AIMS' wing. Azzopardi said that 2025 saw around 350 tests administered, and the target for 2026 is to administer 400 tests. That's an increase in budget - each test costs the authority some €800 from administration to getting the results back - but Azzopardi reiterated that it's money well spent.

The strategy that the authority is following is led by its director of Integrity, former Assistant Police Commissioner Sandro Camilleri - and it is bearing results.

"We have seen a major surge in the number of positive tests in the past few weeks," Azzopardi commented. Just three weeks ago, two Premier League footballers and a Regatta rower tested positive for a banned substance, for instance. Another footballer and two more rowers tested positive some weeks prior.

The authority follows varying strategies, Azzopardi explained. First and foremost, there is an elementary process: those sports which are seen to register higher rates of positivity for banned substances are given more scrutiny.

But from there the authority generally follows three courses of action, Azzopardi said.

In the first instance, they can carry out a random test at a competition - which means effectively drawing two athletes at random and testing them. Secondly, in events such as Athletics or Swimming, officials may pick out the top three rank finishers of an event and test them.

Finally - and this is the area which Azzopardi said has seen most increase - the authority can also carry out targeted tests. This means effectively going to an event with the intent purpose to test particular athletes.

"We have widened our intelligence base. People phone us, tip us off - they can do so even anonymously - and it is turning out that the information we are being provided with is correct," Azzopardi said, referring to increases in positive tests.

"Is this positive or negative? I would say that it's unfortunate for local sport, definitely, because this shows that people are abusing in an environment which should be all about health, giving your best and then letting the best team win. But for the authority I think that we are enhancing our credibility with the public by showing that the authority has stepped up in achieving its mission," Azzopardi said.

A commonly held misconception when it comes to doping tests relates to cannabis. While cannabis has now been legalised for personal use in Malta, the main active substance within it - THC - remains a banned substance in sport.

"The World Anti-Doping Agency code does distinguish between social drugs and anabolic steroids in terms of punishment - but they are all banned. We will keep harping on this that irrespective of the legal changes that there have been in our country recently, it is still banned in sport," Azzopardi said.

This said, THC is the only substance where there is an allowable threshold of consumption which means that if the consumption is "very low" it is not reported as an adverse finding.

If an athlete does test positive for THC above that threshold, then they are still suspended from sport - but Azzopardi explained that instead of a standard two-year suspension, an athlete can opt to admit their guilt and if they can prove that the consumption of the drug was done out of competition - which means 24 hours or more before the competition in question - then their suspension is brought down to three months. Add in enrolment to a rehabilitative programme provided by Sedqa, and the suspension drops to just one month.

People need to have the courage to speak up on match-fixing, Azzopardi says

Another not-so-savoury area for sport that falls under the AIMS umbrella is that of match-fixing. It's a sore topic - particularly in Malta's most popular sport of football, which people perceive to be rife with corruption and manipulation.

"Of course there is a vast difference between perception and reality. There has been a lot of talk going on... I was involved in football for a long time and I think that yes people speak a lot, but the majority don't have the necessary courage to come forward and report accordingly," Azzopardi said when asked about this perceived prevalence.

A survey reported by The Malta Independent in 2021 had found that almost 25% of footballers across the Maltese footballing pyramid said they had been approached to fix a match, while just over 80% of footballers said that they suspected that an official match they had played in was fixed.

Azzopardi himself highlighted that there have even been Malta national team players - at both senior and youth level - that have been found guilty, along with cases involving clubs, making it incorrect to claim that corruption does not exist in Maltese football.

He said, however, that AIMS works very closely with the Malta Football Association, which he noted is the only association to employ a full-time integrity officer, and with the Police.

"The law related to match-fixing is very clear: if a person is aware of any wrongdoing, they must report any information that they have within 14 days. If it transpires that a person knew of some illicit things and did not report them, the same person is liable to up to one year imprisonment," Azzopardi said.

He said that it is his belief that the vast majority of people in sport are in it because they have no agenda and because they wish to contribute to their sport. "I have no doubt of their genuine intentions, but it's a matter of having the courage to speak up."

"At AIMS our duty is to listen to people and guide them in the right direction, and when we receive information which sets off a red alarm, we engage with our stakeholders to set things going in the right direction," he said.

Is enough being done to make people comfortable with coming forward with that information, though?

Azzopardi admitted that it's only normal for people to think about the repercussions they may face - be them sporting, or for their own personal safety - but stressed that if AIMS manages to create an environment where people realise that they mean business and take action, then people will feel safer when coming forward.

He used media coverage of positive doping cases as an example, noting that this proved to be a catalyst for more reports of potential doping violations to come to the authority's doorstep.

"If we manage, and I think that we are managing, to create this framework and get people to trust AIMS, then I see no reason why people shouldn't come forward and speak up. If people have been approached to throw a game, I feel that their moral grounds are being tested and if they are a true sportsman then their only option is to report."

The interview was carried out before allegations of match-fixing related to waterpolo emerged last Friday