The Council of the Malta Football Association overturned a decision by the Executive Committee to allow Hamrun Spartans to pay the €10,000 fine which had been imposed by the Board to Adjudicate Charges Relating to Bribery and Illegal Betting in Football by the end of December rather than November 3rd.

The Spartans had filed a request to pay the amount in eight monthly instalments and following a long discussion, the Executive Committee had decided to grant the club the possibility to pay €5,000 by the original deadline of November 3rd and another €5,000 by December 31st.

However when the decision was being read to the Council during a meeting on Tuesday, this did not go down well with a number of Council members, saying that by allowing such an extension would mean undermining the association’s fight against match-fixing and that there should never be any kind of compromise when dealing with such cases.

It was suggested that the Council would vote whether to confirm the decision or not although there was no agreement on whether the Council could revoke a decision by the Executive Committee. Birkirkara FC Council Member Dr Adrian Delia put forward a motion to annul the decision of the Executive Committee and for the original sentence to have Hamrun Spartans pay the fine in full by November 3rd to stand. St. George’s FC Council member and Executive Committee member Michael Cutajar, on the other hand, proposed an amendment to confirm the decision of the Executive Committee.

Sixteen voted in favour of Michael Cutajar’s amendment, twenty against and four abstained. On the other hand, twenty-two voted in favour of Dr Delia’s motion, twelve against and seven abstained.

Therfore Hamrun Spartans, who were also docked seven points, will have to pay the fine by November 3rd.