Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1363129
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 APRIL 2021 NEWS save more. generate. store. use. New water heating schemes Lower electricity bills Visit rews.org.mt | Freephone 8000 2400 Applications open on the 26 th of April 2021 large glass jars containing banknotes and coins as well as documents linked to sales at Porticello, Capo Mulini, Silver Horse 'by Sonni' and Onda Blu restaurants. The mere mention of Silver Horse raised eyebrows in foot- ball circles because last sum- mer, the popular bar on the capital's Strait Street entered into a 'platinum' sponsorship agreement with Valletta FC, a top-flight football club. The promotional photo for the event included Debono and Chetcuti with the club's top officials. The sponsorship deal is understood to cover some €500,000. Valletta FC subsequently dis- tanced itself from the bar, in- sisting the club never held any commercial interest in the op- erations of Silver Horse. The club and its officials also disas- sociated themselves from any actions alleged in court. Seeking legitimacy There is nothing to suggest that the Valletta FC sponsor- ship was illicit but the mere in- volvement of two men accused of money laundering and fuel smuggling casts an aura of sus- picion. An assessment on the risk of money laundering within the EU, carried out by the Europe- an Commission three years ago had included football for the first time in its monitoring ex- ercise. The report said that social sta- tus was an attraction for some to invest great sums of money with no apparent or explicable financial return or gain, other than the social prestige of in- vesting in professional sport. "Professional sport's populari- ty, and especially that of profes- sional football, can be a tool for criminals to legitimise them- selves by appearing alongside famous people, entrepreneurs, or authorities," the Commis- sion report noted. Maltese football clubs may not have the international allure but they are increasingly being used by people with dubious intentions to gain legitimacy in the community through gen- erous donations and sponsor- ships. Regatta clubs also appear to offer the same attraction. Financial crime reality Europol warned last summer that sports corruption is of- ten addressed only from the perspective of sports integri- ty because practitioners lack awareness on the involvement of organised crime. Football clubs and activities around them generate a yearly economy of around €25 mil- lion, according to Bjorn Vas- sallo, president of the Malta Football Association. Speaking on Xtra last week, Vassallo said the size of the football economy meant that financial crime is a reality. The MFA plans to address this situation by professional- ising the sector. It intends cre- ating a two-tier licensing sys- tem that distinguishes between amateur and elite clubs. This will lead to the commer- cialisation of club ownership at elite level that will require clubs to have the majority shareholding owned by a com- pany. The reform promises to be a major step forward but it will not be enough. Recent developments sug- gest that the sporting sector, particularly football, will in- creasingly have to fall under the purview of financial crime agencies, something that be- came clear in Europol's situa- tion report last August. The Debono case has given us a glimpse of how the money laundering system works with football but it most certainly is not the only one. Darren Debono (left) at the table of Senglea's executive committee, with property entrepreneur Reuben Debono (right); and below, he holds the Valletta FC gear for the team's Silver Horse 'By Sonni' platinum sponsorship. He is flanked by Valletta president Victor Sciriha (centre) and deputy president Alexander 'Sonni' Fenech