MFA president refusing to divulge identities of players in UEFA charges

The president of the Malta Football Association (MFA), Norman Darmanin Demajo is refusing to reveal the names of the two Malta national players who will be charged by UEFA's disciplinary inspectors in connection with match-fixing allegations surrounding the Euro 2008 qualifier between Norway and Malta.

News that Valletta FC midfielder Kevin Sammut is one of the two players being charged was met with a wall of silence by sports broadcasters and journalists on Monday, after MaltaToday broke the news on Sunday.

Darmanin Demajo has insisted the MFA's sole role was to assist in the investigations being carried out by the Police and UEFA, when asked why the association was not informing the public of the identities of the two footballers.

The evidence collected by UEFA will be eventually presented to the disciplinary board for eventual judgement.

"Until such case is heard and judgement reached, the MFA feels that it is not ethical or fair to divulge the names of any players whose names are included in the report, including any players that may have been summoned to appear before the UEFA Disciplinary Commission," the MFA president said.

But Darmanin Demajo would not be drawn into commenting whether the MFA's silence was a disservice to the other players who played in the national team during the qualifier played in June 2007.

"All the players who made up the Maltese squad that travelled to Norway were interviewed and questioned as part of the standard procedure applied during this investigation. Until the case is decided by UEFA, it will be a greater disservice to any player if his name is publicly mentioned before he exercises the right to defend himself at law," he said.

Sammut has denied his involvement, in comments given to MaltaToday by his lawyer Michael Sciriha. His defence team also includes lawyers Lucio Sciriha and Emanuel Mallia. "There is already a plan of defence being drawn up as he has always insisted that he is innocent," Sciriha said.

All major sports journalists and programmes on Monday evening failed to even report or comment on the news that Kevin Sammut, currently on loan to Hamrun FC, is one of the players being charged by UEFA.

On the other hand, while being interviewed on Net TV's Replay, MFA chief executive Bjorn Vassallo refused to answer any questions on the matter when pressed by veteran sports journalist George Micallef.

Speaking to MaltaToday, Micallef said the reason behind MFA's wall of silence could be because the charges have not been formally issued by the police, but only by UEFA. "When similar cases happened in the Italian football league, the names had been revealed by their police because the police were investigating. In our case, we have two separate investigations going on, while the MFA is passing all its information to the two sides," Micallef said.

He added that the Police's investigation might not be advanced to the point that would allow the MFA to publish the names of the footballers.

The Maltese police had started investigating allegations of a fixed match between Norway and Malta last year, when the claims first surfaced during a match-fixing trial in Germany.

Croat Marijo Cvrtak, a convicted member of a notorious Croatian betting syndicate, had identified the Euro 2008 qualifier between Malta and Norway as one of the rigged matches. The match had ended with Malta being beaten by Norway 4-0 in Oslo.

The MFA had also carried out a three-month inquiry, during which more than 30 persons were interviewed. The investigation was detailed in a 500-page dossier that has been passed on to UEFA in March.

But last Friday, after it met to discuss the case, UEFA decided on postponing its decision to its next meeting, citing ongoing investigation.