The Malta FA is working on new regulations aimed at strengthening its fight against corruption in football, Joe Mifsud, the president of local football's governing body, told a news conference yesterday.

The essence of the new regulations is that persons found guilty of bribery will be held liable for damages.

Under the proposed regulations, which have already been discussed by the MFA Executive Committee, all those involved in local football, from referees, players and coaches to club officials and players' agents, must sign a document binding them to pay for damages arising from any bribery-related offence they may commit.

Bribery suspects would be obliged to pay €100,000 in pre-liquidated damages even before the case is decided by the Magistrates' Court.

The announcement of the Malta FA's plans to toughen anti-corruption measures comes only a few weeks after a fresh scandal rocked Maltese football. Marsaxlokk's vice-president and team manager Peter Hartshorne and midfielder Claude Mattocks recently pleaded guilty to attempting to bribe Msida goalkeeper Matthew Camilleri in November last year.

Dr Mifsud said that Hartshorne, who was also Marsaxlokk's council representative and served on a number of MFA boards, and Mattocks have been suspended indefinitely by the association.

"Our message is loud and clear...there's no room for corruption in Maltese football," said Dr Mifsud who had earlier renewed his appeal for anyone who has information about bribery to step forward "before it's too late".

"Many people said they were shocked when I made that strong address about corruption at the last annual general meeting," Dr Mifsud added. "However, it appears that some chose to ignore my warning but it has become clear that those who break the rules must pay the consequences.

"I believe that, in the main, club officials are involved in corruption. Betting has aggravated the problem but it looks like here, officials are tempted into bribery by what I call a false love for their club. These people think that by bribing opponents, they are abetting their club but they are missing an important point... their actions can have serious repercussions for their club."

Dr Mifsud also revealed that the MFA Board to Investigate Corrupt Practices is looking into several allegations of bribery in local football.

UEFA has also instructed the MFA to appear parte civile in criminal proceedings against former referee Joe Attard and Albanian coach Ilir Pelinku in connection with the alleged attempt to fix the UEFA Cup match between Marsaxlokk and Croatia's Slaven Belupo last July.

Reacting to suggestions that the image of Maltese football has been tarnished by the spate of bribery cases that have come to light this season, Dr Mifsud said: "I don't agree with comments that these cases have damaged the credibility of Maltese football. On the contrary, I believe that the local game stands to benefit in the long term from this bold drive to combat corruption."

The first part of yesterday's news conference was devoted to the upcoming international commitments of the national teams at different levels.

Much of the focus was on Malta's World Cup qualifiers at home to Denmark on March 28 and away to Hungary on April 1.

Denmark, co-leaders of Group One with Hungary on seven points, are taking their encounter with Malta very seriously. Suffice to say that the Danish squad is flying to Malta on Monday, five days before the match, to ensure they have ample time to acclimatise with the local conditions and fine-tune their preparations for the match. Furthermore, more than 1,400 Danish fans have already purchased tickets for the March 28 qualifier.

The day after the Denmark clash, the Maltese squad and a sizeable group of fans will travel to Hungary on a chartered flight organised by the South End Core. Louis Agius, of the South End Core, said there were only a few seats left on the flight to Budapest.

Edwin Camilleri, the Malta U-21 coach, spoke about his team's preparations for their 2009-11 UEFA U-21 Championship opening qualifier at home to Slovenia on March 31. This match will be played at the Hibs Ground.

The MFA president also confirmed that Sheffield United will hold a mini-training camp in Malta next week, starting on Monday.