Two players, one from Qala Saints FC and another from Żebbuġ Rovers have been charged with corruption by the Malta Football Association Integrity Unit. So far, we only know that police are pressing charges under the Manipulation of Sport Law but there has been no date set yet for these to be formally presented in court.
In the meantime, Qala Saints are running away with with Gozitan First Division and have a three point lead at the top of the standings having won all their 5 initial matches. Nadur Youngsters have had quite a bad start to the league although they won their last two games but are languishing 9 points behind the Saints.
Another interesting twist to all this is that both Nadur Youngsters and Qala Saints are sponsored by Gozitan construction magnate Joseph Portelli. The outspoken developer also sponsors Żebbuġ Rovers in the Gozitan Second Division.
This is a timeline of events:
March 2024
A match was played on March 17 2024 between Nadur Youngsters and Qala Saints which ended in a 1-1 draw. Nadur eventually won the league by just two points after a long tussle.
A few days later, reports surfaced that Qala Saints FC, through its player Manwel Xerri as well as Żebbuġ Rovers goalkeeper Leonard Camilleri had attempted to bribe a Nadur Youngsters FC player to throw the match and subsequently allow Qala Saints to win the Gozo Football League.
Police eventually confirmed that they were investigating the case in question and also revealed that they had several recordings of the incident. It was further revealed that the Nadur player had informed his club officials of the bribery attempt and eventually the case was reported to the police.
The MFA Integrity Officer Hermann Mula later confirmed that an investigation had been opened. Interestingly, Qala Saints denied that any player of theirs or the club itself was under investigation.
June 2024
Qala Saints alongside Manwel Xerri and Leonard Camilleri were formally charged with match fixing before the Malta FA Integrity board in June. These charges were pressed following a thorough investigation by the MFA and the police. As expected, both Xerri and Camilleri were suspended pending these procedures.
MFA Integrity officer Herman Mula confirmed the charges when speaking to the media. He also said that both Xerri and Camilleri were to be charged in court over the match fixing allegations. The pair could be also facing jail time if found guilty under the Manipulation of Sport Law.
Gozo and Planning Minister inaugurating the Qala Saints Sports Complex in June.
The defence lawyers
However, what makes this case rather bizarre is that both Qala Saints and the players in question are being presented by prominent PN members. Opposition Shadow Health Minister Adrian Delia is defending Qala Saints and Xerri whilst Leonard Camilleri is being defended by Frank Anthony Tabone. Tabone is a former police superintendent and also a prospective candidate for the PN in Gozo. Qala Saints enjoy tacit support from Gozo and Planning Minister Clint Camilleri who is a former mayor of the village as well as hailing from it.
Government largesse and a minister’s driver
Qala Saints also recently benefited from government largesse with a state of the art stadium inaugurated in June only a few days before the match fixing charges were presented before the MFA Integrity Board. The facility cost over EUR 400,000 as per a DOI press release.
Additionally, Qala Saints President is no other than Noel Mizzi who is the driver of Minister Clint Camilleri.
The court case was supposed to take place in October but so far we have not heard of any date and it is assumed that proceedings will drag on for quite some time.
Note: This is the first in a series of investigative stories we will be publishing about Maltese sport. Watch this space for further developments.
Sports Editor
Veteran Journalist
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