A former referee was today fined €5,000 by a court after he was found guilty of defaming the head of the referees’ body over the selection of an official to oversee international matches.

The case dates back to January 2013, when Charles Zerafa, a former Malta Football Referees official, uploaded a post on his Facebook page questioning the appointment of Kevin Azzopardi as a Fifa official.

The post, which was directed at Adrian Casha, a member of the Referees Committee within the Malta Football Association, said that Mr Casha had “settled his obligation” towards Mr Azzopardi.

The court heard how Mr Zerafa and Mr Casha had been close friends up to 1995. They used to officiate games together and were both part of the referee’s association.

However, their close friendship came to an end over the appointment of then association president Patrick Fenech as an international referee. The dispute revolved around allegations that Mr Fenech was not in a physical state to carry out his on-pitch duties.

A year later, both parties were involved in a separate incident when Mr  Zerafa was officiating a game at the Mosta ground, in which Mr Casha was a linesman, together with Mr Azzopardi who at the time was 16-years-old.

Subsequently, Mr Zerafa filed a complaint with the referee’s body against his colleague, saying he had turned up just 15 minutes before kick-off leading to a three-minute delay in the start of the match.

The court concluded that the comments posted by Mr Zerafa were wrong and aimed to tarnish Mr Casha’s reputation

When the case was heard before the referees’ body, Mr Azzopardi initially denied Mr Casha had been late but later changed his version and corroborated Mr Zerafa’s claim.  The two sides were eventually reprimanded and urged to refrain from further bickering.

The court also heard how 12 years later, in 2008, at a time when Mr Zerafa was chairman of the Referee’s Board, Mr Casha was removed as a Fifa referee on grounds that he was no longer fit.

In its decision, the court, presided by Magistrate Francesco Depasquale, noted that Mr Casha was just a member in the selection board which, in September 2012, had selected Mr Azzopardi to oversee international matches.

It noted that Mr Zerafa’s claim against Mr Casha, was “totally wrong” as the evidence produced during the case made it amply clear that Mr Azzopardi had told the truth on in relation to the 1996 incident at the Mosta ground.

The court said that Mr Zerafa’s attempts to justify his comments by producing a series of reports related to the international games officiated by Mr Azzopardi were “shameful”.

It added that from documentation submitted by the MFA, Mr Azzopardi’s nomination as a Fifa referee in 2013 was “just and fair” and was by no means a result of some sort of obligation.

The court concluded that the comments posted by Mr Zerafa were wrong and aimed to tarnish Mr Casha’s reputation.

Due to the fact that the claims had been posted on the social media, which had a worldwide reach, and also because of the negative light thrown on Maltese football, the court opted to liquidate damages in favour of Mr Casha to the tune of €5,000.