Former PL MP and Authority for Integrity in Maltese Sport CEO Jean Claude Micallef has questioned the seeming lack of an investigation into the content of remarks made by the now ex Malta waterpolo coach Milan Cirovic.
Cirovic said in an interview on NET TV’s Man Up+ that he had resigned from his role with the national team after political interference affected the development of the sport in Malta, referring to surprise doping tests and stories alleging match manipulation and illegal betting that emerged during preparations for last January’s European Championship.
"Some journalists, I can say very loudly, spineless journalists, were prepared and dictated by some politicians in Malta; they decided to try to destroy the national team from inside," he said.
The Aquatic Sports Association has said that Cirovic’s allegations could not be disregarded.
Micallef, who served as the CEO of AIMS in a tenure which was marked by fractious internal disputes which eventually resulted in his departure from the role, wrote on Facebook that he was yet to hear of any investigation in light of what Cirovic had said.
Micallef added that Cirovic’s comments echo what he had experienced as AIMS CEO, saying that his resignation letter had listed a number of shortcomings that he had experienced and that he wanted to stop.
For that, he said he was “attacked in the most vindictive manner by a core of individuals who are so far still at the trough despite their incompetence, assisted by individuals at the Times of Malta so that certain situations remain under the carpet to the detriment of sporting integrity.”
He said that as long as Malta keeps losing elements such as Cirovic and others “who remained silent because they were afraid due to a few corrupt people” then it will keep erasing whole generations while destroying the development of Malta as a society growing with upstandingness, integrity, and a winning mentality.
“Before being a question of sport, it is a question of integrity and credibility,” Micallef said.
“The price of silence and passiveness of those who have a duty to act cannot be greater than the skills of hundreds of athletes, the development of Maltese society, and the aspirations of all those like me who believe that the value of a person is not restricted to the limitations of the country but to the stature of the individual,” he concluded.