Sports official has lifetime ban for masturbating in front of students reduced

A former Malta Table Tennis Association official handed a lifetime ban for masturbating in front of students has had the punishment reduced to 18 months on appeal.

The former MTTA committee member was found by a disciplinary board to have engaged in "lewd and indecent behaviour in front of students" at a badminton match at the University of Malta in 2024.

In January last year he was handed a lifetime ban from taking part or attending any Table Tennis activities. 

However, the official appealed the decision and his complaint was heard late last month.

While the board of appeal did not revoke the disciplinary board's decision on the official's guilt, it found the punishment was "excessive and unwarranted".

Hearsay

The official had asked for the both the decision and his ban to be revoked, complaining that he was not given any notice of the disciplinary hearing and so was unable to defend himself. 

He contended that the disciplinary board was wrong to find guilt when no eyewitnesses testified before it, and that the statements of those who testified were mere hearsay and thus ought to have been inadmissible. 

He added that in the face of such charges, the “board should not have relied on the statements made by secondary witnesses”.

In its findings, the board of appeal said that one of the witnesses revealed that they had spoken to the appellant and informed him of the allegation. The witness added that the former MTTA official admitted that he had masturbated in public and took full responsibility for his actions. The board said that this was to be “considered valid and admissible proof.”

University of Malta letter

The witness’s statement was further supported by a letter from the University of Malta, which was presented by the appellant himself and which informed him that he had conducted himself in "an indecent and inappropriate manner".

The appellant did not contest this conclusion and the board said that this represented "a clear declaration of guilt".

The board of appeal said they therefore considered the disciplinary board’s finding of the appellant’s guilt to be correct.

However, the appeals board noted that a sanction handed down by the disciplinary committee of the University of Malta, where the incident happened, was considerably lighter than that imposed by the board.

It also noted that no criminal charges appear to have been issued against the appellant.

Considering that the rules regulating the MTTA allow for a variety of sanctions, the board of appeal "felt that a lifetime ban is excessive and unwarranted" and "a shorter suspension would be correct in the circumstances". 

In its decision, the appeals board decided to partially uphold the appeal and lifted the lifetime ban.

Instead, it suspended the former official from all MTTA activities for 18 months, starting from January 13, 2025. This means that the appellant’s suspension will expire on July 1.

A source close to the case told Times of Malta that this judgement inevitably raises questions about whether safeguarding issues are given the weight they deserve.

“This is not just about one case. It is about consistency, credibility, and trust,” the source said.

“If the most serious sanctions can be reduced so substantially, stakeholders are entitled to ask whether disciplinary frameworks are sufficiently robust – and whether safeguarding is being given the weight it deserves.”