Education minister Justyne Caruana has dropped a criminal complaint accusing the ex-wife of footballer Daniel Bogdanovic of stalking.

The case was due to begin this week in Gozo, with the woman expected to be charged with stalking, harassment, causing fear of violence and uttering insults and threats.

Police had filed charges based on Caruana's criminal complaint, alleging the harassment and stalking happened over the last few months. 

However she filed a note in court on Monday withdrawing her complaint, claiming that since she had filed it, the stalking had stopped.

It is understood the defence had planned to summon some 40 witnesses, including people from the education ministry. The prosecution had lined up around 12 witnesses. 

It is not not clear whether the case will now go ahead.

Caruana’s relationship with Bogdanovic was under the spotlight recently after Malta Today revealed he was granted a €15,000 direct order to provide a three-month review of sports curricula in the national sports college.

The contract was later repealed by the government. 

The reports were referred to parliament's standards commissioner by university academic Arnold Cassola.

In 2017, Bogdanovic, a former Malta international player was fined €1,000 after a court found he had kept firearms in unsecured locations at his home and sent his wife a threatening SMS. However, he was cleared of causing her to fear physical violence.