[WATCH] Mangia's Malta football future in doubt irrespective of sexual harassment probe outcome

Devis Mangia’s future as coach of the Malta national football team is in doubt with association president Bjorn Vassallo saying the “climate has soured”.

Vassallo said the Malta Football Association is shortly expecting the outcome of its safeguarding officer’s investigation into allegations sexual harassment made against Mangia.

Interviewed on TVM’s Xtra on Monday, Vassallo strongly hinted that irrespective of the outcome, Mangia’s stint as national coach may be over.

“We are waiting for the safeguarding officer’s report, which should be out in a matter of weeks and subsequently the MFA will discuss and take the necessary decisions but the climate has soured, irrespective of what the final outcome is,” Vassallo said.

Mangia was suspended by the MFA a fortnight ago after a national team footballer came forward with claims of sexual harassment against the coach. The player also claimed that he was relegated to the bench after he refused the coach’s advances.

A second player then came forward with more allegations and it is understood a video of one of the exchanges was also made available to the MFA.

Mangia has denied wrongdoing.

The matter is being investigated by the MFA’s safeguarding officer but the case is also subject to a criminal investigation by the police.

The Italian coach was appointed in 2019 to take charge of the national team and the technical setup. 

On Xtra, the MFA president defended the association’s actions during Mangia’s recruitment three years ago and now when the new allegations surfaced.

“There was no way the MFA could have known of any wrongdoing back in 2019 since due diligence checks flagged no criminal or inappropriate behaviour,” Vassallo said.

He added that a case reported in the Italian media from 2016, when Mangia ‘mysteriously’ left his coaching job at Ascoli, a football club, did not result in tangible evidence of wrongdoing.

“The MFA looked into that incident but the same article quoted the club itself saying Mangia’s departure was for health reasons and no wrongdoing was flagged with the Italian FA,” Vassallo said.

Mangia went on to coach a Romanian team before joining the MFA. However, in 2021, allegations surfaced in the Romanian press of sexual misconduct by Mangia.

“When those allegations cropped up, which were claims made by a third party on behalf of somebody else, and so considered hearsay evidence, I confronted Mangia and he told me a different story,” Vassallo insisted.

With the latest claims made in Malta, the MFA “acted in the best possible way”, Vassallo added and when it had tangible facts in hand took the necessary decisions.

“How could the MFA have known of this behaviour if no wrongdoing was ever flagged? And whoever spoke abroad, appears to have done so late in the day and so abdicated from their responsibility. If the allegations are proven, I can say the MFA would have acted to stop the abuse from happening again,” Vassallo said.

Meanwhile, the MFA yesterday said it parted ways with national team assistant coach Guillermo Giacomazzi, who was part of the coaching team led by the suspended Mangia.