Former referee Joe Attard has been banned for life by the Malta FA after the association’s Board to Investigate Corrupt Practices found him guilty of trying to influence the result of a UEFA Cup match involving Maltese club Marsaxlokk two years ago.

The Malta FA had suspended Attard indefinitely when reports about his alleged involvement in an attempt to rig the UEFA Cup preliminary round match between Marsaxlokk and Slaven Belupo, played at the National Stadium in July 2008, first came to light.

Slaven Belupo won the first leg 4-0 and went on to seal their qualification with another 4-0 victory over Marsaxlokk in Croatia.

The case had been under investigation since September 2008 when Attard, a former FIFA referee, and Albanian coach Ilir Pelinku, were named by former Malta FA president Joe Mifsud as the perpetrators of the alleged match-fixing attempt.

It was during the MFA’s 2007/08 Annual General Meeting that Dr Mifsud had announced that the association had been alerted to a possible bribery attempt before a match involving a Maltese team.

Attard and Pelinku were arraigned in court in May last year.

After finding Attard guilty of breaching Article 10 of the association’s regulations, the MFA’s Board to Investigate Corrupt Practices handed Attard a life ban from all football-related activities.