Libel victory for Illum in case filed by former MFA president

Media houses from overseas, including the BBC's Panorama TV programme, had alleged that money which Joe Mifsud had been paid as MFA president had been routed into a trust fund

Former MFA president Joe Mifsud
Former MFA president Joe Mifsud

A court has dismissed a libel case filed by former Malta Football Association President Joe Mifsud against former Illum editor Kurt Sansone and former journalist Mark Attard, over a 2008 article titled “Gwerra Dikjarata,” which reported an investigation into breaches of the MFA statute, corruption and abuse of power as well as the misappropriation of MFA funds.

The case was heard in tandem with another case filed by Mifsud against Former Malta Football Association treasurer Norman Darmanin Demajo over a letter which alleged that “large amounts of money owed to the MFA...were not deposited in the MFA's bank accounts” and that Mifsud had been responsible.

In 2007 the international press had reported that money paid to the MFA for a game Mifsud organised against Bayern Munich in 2000 had not been received by the association.

It was also claimed that funds issued by Uefa to clubs were not all distributed by the MFA. 

Media houses from overseas, including the BBC's Panorama TV programme had alleged that money which Mifsud had been paid as MFA president had been routed into a trust fund. However, the association did not have a trust fund at the time.

The following year, Darmanin Demajo had launched an investigation into allegations of corruption, misappropriation of funds and breach of the MFA statute in contracts signed by Mifsud.

Mifsud had filed separate libel proceedings against Darmanin Demajo and former Illum editor Kurt Sansone and journalist Mark Attard for running a story about it. Both cases were heard together. 

In a judgement handed down today, Magistrate Francesco Depasquale dismissed the cases, pointing out that the disputed news article had not even been exhibited in the case against Illum, adding that this was a basic requirement in libel cases.

Lawyer Veronique Dalli was defence counsel.