News • 07 September 2003

Promises of Microsoft sponsor leaves Valletta FC fans angry at Austin Gatt

Matthew Vella
Austin Gatt’s fruitless electoral pledge for a Lm100,000 sponsorship from Microsoft Corporation for Valletta FC has angered many club supporters, MaltaToday can reveal.
Valletta FC members told this newspaper how Austin Gatt, current Minister for IT and Investments, promised the Valletta electorate that he would bring a Lm100,000 sponsorship from Microsoft Corporation for the capital city’s football club. As the pioneer of e-government initiatives, Gatt has been in close contact with the software giant and mogul president Bill Gates.
Last April, Austin Gatt registered a superb performance when he more than doubled his 1998 vote count. That year he was elected by a casual election, but this time round he garnered 3,618 first count votes to be immediately elected in this year’s general elections. He did however face stiff competition in his district from newcomer Mario de Marco, son of President Guido de Marco, who was elected to Parliament in his first ever electoral contest in the first district.
Valletta FC members have confirmed that sour relations between former long-standing club President Joe Caruana Curran and Austin Gatt were at the centre of Caruana Curran’s resignation as club president following the general elections. Caruana Curran was quoted by club members as having been an open supporter of his ex-wife’s brother, and Gatt’s district rival Mario de Marco.
During the executive committee elections in the last Valletta FC AGM, Caruana Curran, for years the candidate who would get the top number of votes, placed fourth in the number of votes. Valletta FC members told MaltaToday certain club members lobbied against Caruana Curran, who seeing his stay at the top destabilised by the decrease in votes, chose to resign.
MaltaToday can confirm that the Microsoft Corporation sponsorship will not surface as Valletta FC are already in the process of negotiating their new main sponsor in the form of Whyte and Mackay worth Lm20,000.
matthew@maltamag.com