Thirty-three year old defender Jurgen Pisani had has his fifteen-month jail term quashed after an appeals court overturned a decision by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech who found him guilty of trying to manipulate the outcome of the BOV Premier League match between Santa Lucia and Birkirkara on May 3, 2024. 

Pisani, and Santa Lucia FC, had been acquitted of all charges following proceedings before the Malta FA Control, Disciplinary and Ethics Committee – Integrity Panel in August 2025. Proceedings were initiated in April 2025 but after careful consideration of the evidence presented, the Integrity Panel of the Malta FA determined that the charges were not proven.

Jurgen Pisani appealed from the court’s decision and Judge Neville Camilleri argued that although the Magistrates’ Court believed Maxuell Maia da Silva, who had claimed that he had been approached during the match and offered him €2,000 to refrain from scoring, the reason for this does not infer a reason why a witness should be believed when all the evidence is considered.

Judge Camilleri added that although the witness’s version was consistent with what he had already stated when he decided to report the incident to Birkirkara President Michael Valencia right after the game ended and although he may have been detailed in his description of how the incident occurred and the circumstances in which it occurred, the Court still has reasonable doubt about the version of the facts narrated by him, concluding that from what was presented to the Magistrates’ Court, it could not legally and reasonably reach the conclusion it reached regarding the finding of the accused’s guilt and therefore acquitted him.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Edward Gatt and Adreana Zammit appeared for Pisani.