The ex-wife of former footballer Daniel Bogdanovic and her sister have both been cleared of stalking Education Minister Justyne Caruana. 

Alison and Valerie Apap stood charged of stalking, harassment, causing fear of violence and making threats against Caruana. 

The case however fell flat on Monday after the Gozitan minister dropped a criminal complaint accusing the two of stalking her in recent weeks.

Bogdanovic and Caruana have been in the news recently after the former footballer was given a lucrative contract with the Caruana-led Education Ministry. The contract was later rescinded following a public uproar. 

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

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

When the case was heard on Friday, presiding magistrate Joe Mifsud noted that the police’s evidence was based largely on the criminal complaint. 

After dismissing a request for his removal from the case, the magistrate went straight to sentencing and found the two women not guilty. 

It is understood that defence lawyer Arthur Azzopardi had planned to summon some 40 witnesses, including staff from Caruana’s education ministry, with a view to prove that she was romantically involved with the former footballer. 

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 media 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.