Delia: the PN will be a shield for those who expose corruption in sport

PN Leader Adrian Delia has made a rallying call against corruption in all areas in an address this morning.

Speaking at a conference on match fixing organised by the PN Delia pledged to continue his fight against corruption, both within sport and outside of it.

“When I was involved in football, not a day passed that I didn’t fight endlessly against the cancer that is choking sport in Malta,” Delia said. “I don’t point my finger at those who fell short, but at myself for not reaching the target of being able to guarantee my children that they will be involved in clean sport when they grow up.”

 “Instead of the whistleblower being a hero he is seen as a backstabber,” lamented the Opposition leader. The problem is not that organised crime is using sport but a faulty mentality that needs to change, he said. “We must be the shield of those who speak out, who reveal,” Delia said, praising the heroism of young players who speak out in full knowledge that they will lose their place in their teams.

“The principles we must adopt are those focused on zero tolerance. There is no middle ground. Evil must be called by its name. Who doesn’t reveal is complicit…if the politicians don’t give the example that there is zero tolerance to corruption, we cannot expect our sportsmen to follow.”

There was also no room for partisan affiliations, he said. “When there is corruption it must be both parties, both teams to say it is unacceptable…every unclear regulation must be changed”

“We must teach our children that the cost of being corrupt is fatal to your sport and to you. If sport is corrupt then society is corrupt. My message is that in the limited resources that we have as a party, we made the biggest possible effort to bring sport back to a national agenda. Sport is not a 1 hour PE lesson…it is training for life.

"The PN is going to be the shield of those who reveal corruption in sport. Corruption is a cancer but we can defeat it,” he said.