A former referee was fined €5,000 by a court after claiming that a colleague had been chosen to officiate international matches in return for a favour he had done to the head of the referees’ body years before.

The case revolved around a Facebook post uploaded in January 2013, by Charles Zerafa, a former Malta Football Referees official. Mr Zerafa had claimed that the appointment of Kevin Azzopardi as a Fifa official had been a means by which Adrian Casha, a member in the Referees Committee within the Malta Football Association, had “settled his obligation” towards Mr Azzopardi.

In its decision the court, presided over by Magistrate Francesco Depasquale noted that Mr Casha was just a member on the selection board.

While describing Mr Zerafa’s claim as “totally wrong”, the court said that, from documentation submitted by the MFA, it transpired that the appointment was fair and by no means a result of some sortof obligation.

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