Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1337056
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 FEBRUARY 2021 NEWS They came, they promised and left: €25 million promise for Sliema KARL AZZOPARDI CATCO Group Capital Investment had promised Sliema Wanderers a €25 mil- lion investment over five years before signing a sponsorship deal last year, Mal- taToday has learnt. The Tunisian company was roped in by Jeffrey Farrugia, known as 'il-Vinċ', soon after he became president of the football club last August. Multiple sources within the club have confirmed the sponsorship figure floated by Farrugia and Catco Group chairman Fisal Abdullah Alokla was in the region of €25 million. The sponsorship would have possibly been one of the highest ever for a Maltese football club. Sources said the figure had been men- tioned again during an online meeting between the players, Farrugia and Alokla, a fortnight ago. The club was also promised an invest- ment in a "sports city", with sources sug- gesting that Alokla may have been eyeing the former Flower Power site in Ta' Qali. But none of the promised monies made it to the club and player wages remained unpaid. The situation was made worse after Farrugia went on a signing spree in the summer to boost the club's fortunes on the pitch. Club insiders said the Tunisian compa- ny brought hope but some were suspi- cious from the outset. One club source said: "They came with a lot of ideas in mind. Some of us had noticed that there was something fishy. Why would they come here in Malta?" Other sources said the majority of play- ers have been left in the dark about the situation. "Players knew nothing about the situation. They were always promised they would be paid in a week's time, but wages never arrived," they said. Attempts to contact Farrugia and Alok- la were futile. But although Catco may be guilty of bringing false hope, the company is not fully responsible for the club's dire finan- cial situation. "This has been a long time coming. For 10 years we have seen the situation worsen," a Sliema club member said. Farrugia resigned from president last Wednesday following the resignation of honorary vice president Keith Perry a week before. But the club also faced other resignations as its financial woes deepened. Perry had already stepped down from club president in the summer of 2020 to make way for Farrugia, who arrived at the club with the promise of a lucrative sponsorship deal. Lawyer Kris Busietta is now expected to take over as club president following an extraordinary general meeting in the coming days. Sliema already faces a FIFA and MFA transfer ban due to outstanding balances for cases they lost against three players, all of which were represented by the Malta Football Players Association. Malta Football Association vice-presi- dent Matthew Paris said the association was looking to install a 'Member Status Committee' prior to Farrugia's decision to step down. The committee, which can also be referred to as a "normalisation committee", has the role of restoring or- der within clubs facing a crisis. But plans have stalled due to the presi- dent's resignation, with Paris saying that the MFA respects the club's autonomy. "The best situation would be of having clubs resolve their own situation," he said. The Malta Football Players Association had accused Sliema Wanderers of being "gravely" in breach of contractual obli- gations towards its players and coaching staff, saying full-time players were "lit- erally struggling to feed themselves and their families." MFPA General Secretary Carlo Ma- mo had also confirmed that a number of players had come forward with com- plaints about lack of payments. He said the MFPA reached out to the club for an explanation. KARL AZZOPARDI FORMER PN leader Adrian Delia has shirked responsibility for a €500,000 donation to Dar tal-Providenza which he fronted from a Tunisian company that failed to honour a sponsorship commitment with Sliema Wan- derers. The MP was spoken to ahead of an announcent yesterday that the sensational €500,000 dona- tion from Tunisian group Catco, would not be accepted by the Dar tal-Providenza. Id-Dar tal-Providenza yester- day said that it had signed a let- ter of engagement with an advi- sory and audit firm to conduct a due diligence exercise, but chair- man Fisal Alokla of CATCO did not provide the relevant infor- mation requested as part of a verification process. "Therefore Id-Dar tal-Providenza, while ap- preciating this kind gesture, is not in a position to receive the donation. The Administrative Secretary of the Archdiocese of Malta was informed about this development." Doubts were already raised as to whether the pledged mon- ey was ever going to make it to the church home. "All I did was bring the two parties together for a charitable act," Delia said when asked whether he would enquire about the Catco Group's standing in the wake of its failure to honour its own commitment with Sliema. Since being roped in as a main sponsor of the football club in August by president Jeffrey Far- rugia, Sliema Wanderers has not seen a cent of investment by the Catco Group and players' wages remained unpaid. Delia had even credited Jeffrey Farrugia, the former footballer who this week resigned as Sliema Wanderers president, as having introduced him to the opportu- nity to work with Catco. Now the final sum of money donated during the Festa ta' Ġenerożità held 1 January 2021 ha now been revised down to €2,031,540. Jeffrey Farrugia resigned his post as president last week after a pledge by the Catco Group's chairman to resolve the issue of unpaid wages, went unfulfilled. The sudden departure of the club president, despite promis- es that he would resolve the fi- nancial woes that beset the most successful club in Maltese foot- balling history, has left Sliema in turmoil. Farrugia, whose presidency was a surprise promotion to the traditional role of team manager he has held in the many clubs he worked for, had told players the Tunisian sponsor was finding it difficult to open a bank account in Malta to be able to transfer the sponsor money. But Adrian Delia was unfazed by the situation at the club. "I have my own limitations. I know nothing about the situation, and cannot base my opinion on just news reports," he told MaltaTo- day. The lucrative donation to Dar tal-Providenza was the straw that broke the camel's back for the Sliema players, according to sources close to the club. "Im- agine not being paid for a year, and all of a sudden you see Delia with a €500,000 cheque. Players feel very frustrated about the sit- uation," a club source told Mal- taToday. Sliema's financial difficulties predate the arrival of Catco, with some players reportedly having been unpaid since February of last year. The arrival of Jeffrey Farrugia with his promise of a lucrative sponsorship deal (see separate story) brought hope. But as the months rolled on, player wages remained unpaid and Catco Group's commitment has been put into serious doubt. The Dar tal-Providenza had said last month it would be car- rying out its own verification on the Catco Group and its large do- nation. "Id-Dar tal-Providenza does not only rely on documen- tation provided but conducts its own verification process before accepting such donations. Ac- ceptance of the donation is sub- ject to the internal verification process." Delia is no stranger to football, which is where he knows Farru- gia: the PN MP was president of the Birkirkara football club be- tween May 2015 and June 2017 before announcing he would be contesting the Nationalist Par- ty's leadership election. kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt Delia shirks responsibility for massive donation now up in smoke Alokla: no money Delia in the limelight: presenting the surprise €500,000 donation to Dar il-Providenza