Updated 2.15pm with minister's response
Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo has attracted derision for wearing a Manchester United jacket ahead of a match between the club’s women’s team and local side Birkirkara F.C.
Dozens of people responded critically to a photo Bartolo posted on his Facebook page on Friday evening from the Hibernians football ground ahead of the friendly match.
The photo, which was no longer publicly available as of Saturday morning, showed a grinning Bartolo in a Manchester United-branded jacket as he stood between captains of the two football teams.
Other photos provided to Times of Malta indicated that the minister's two young children also served as mascots for the Manchester United women's team and accompanied the team onto the pitch while kitted out in the British club's gear.
Bartolo's photo drew strong reactions on social media.
“At the very least wear a Birkirkara t-shirt, not a United one,” wrote one user. “A Maltese minister backing a foreign team,” wrote another. “Thank God you took a photo because I wouldn’t have believed it if they told me.”
A sample of comments beneath the post. Commenters were broadly critical of the minister's choice.Others were less polite.
“I’m a hardcore Labourite from birth, but with all due respect if they made you a minister it shows how little we have to choose from,” wrote another voter. Others called the stunt “shameful” and “pathetic”.
Anger at Bartolo’s choice of attire was compounded by the fact that the minister contested the eighth district, which includes Birkirkara, as an electoral candidate. He narrowly missed out on a seat there and was instead elected on the 12th district, which includes his hometown Mellieħa.
Bartolo smiles along with his two children ahead of the match.Nationalist Party politicians were quick to seize the opportunity and highlight the minister’s faux pas, with MPs Julie Zahra and Beppe Fenech Adami both criticising Bartolo.
Both Zahra and Fenech Adami contested the 8th district during last year’s general election.
Bartolo: 'Event possible thanks to organisers and Visit Malta'
Bartolo hid the post from public view on his Facebook page on Saturday morning.
Later in the afternoon, he published another post in which he said he "did not want to offend anyone, least of all Birkirkara's football team or residents."
"Birkirkara residents know that they've always found my support in every sector - from sports to culture," he wrote.
The minister instead emphasised that the Friday night friendly was only possible thanks to the work of organisers and Visit Malta - an entity he is politically responsible for.
Bartolo's Man Utd habits
The jacket backlash capped a terrible evening for Malta’s image: apart from thrashing Birkirkara women 10-0, the Manchester United women’s team also got to experience shoddy Maltese infrastructure when their team bus sank into a collapsing road outside the stadium.
Bartolo’s avid support of Manchester United has attracted questionable press in the past: in 2021 his secretary organised a ‘surprise’ Manchester United-themed birthday party for him in his ministerial office. The minister has also been photographed at the club’s home ground, Old Trafford.
As Tourism Minister, Bartolo is responsible for a Visit Malta sponsorship deal with Manchester United that was renewed for a five-year period just six months ago.
The ministry has refused to disclose the value of that deal, reputed to run into several millions.