Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1467182
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 MAY 2022 COMMENT What are we skinning? Gozitan construction magnate-cum-en- viornmentalist scourge du jour and Hamrun Spartans President Joseph Portelli officially signing on to play with – of all teams – his beloved Nadur Youngsters in a decisive match against Kercem Ajax last Saturday, as 'Player 99'. Why are we skinning it? Erm… did you hear what I just said? I did. Portelli's free to do that, no? Yes, it's rather chilling how that seems to be the knee-jerk response of most people with regards to whatever occurs in this country. How do you mean? The 'u iva mhux xorta' attitude towards pretty much anything that goes on - een if it is tacky, indeco- rous and redolent of a largely anti-social and individualistic approach to public life – is met with a shrug… just water off a duck's back. Well okay but… I don't care about football, why should it affect me? It shouldn't affect anyone, really, apart from those poor buggers playing for Kercem Ajax, I guess. So again, why is it even a thing? Well… a grown-ass man who is also one of Malta's biggest economic mov- ers-and-shakers deciding that he wants to step in and play for the team (he obviously bank- rolls given his kid son is now its president) just so he can partly claim credit for them winning a trophy is… a choice. It's sweet, though. He's already got Malta in the palm of his hand… but he really wants that Nadur accolade. You can take the boy out of the (Gozitan) village… Though of course, it could also be a case of 'what do you give the man who has everything'... Seems like scoring a 'decisive' penalty will do the trick of cheering our Joseph right up. It's nice to know that football can still hold on to its repu- tation as a truly democratic sport. Yes, even the filthy rich are allowed into its ranks with open arms by enthusiastic players and fans. Warms the heart, really. I am wiping a single tear off my cheek right now. Promise. Do say: "While Portelli is of course free to do as he wills with his time, money and re- sources, we are equally free to put into question the persistent tackiness of a large part of his endeavours." Don't say: "They told me I could be anything, so I became a Nadur Youngster." Abortion is a social, not a moral issue NATALIE PSAILA PGS 8 & 9 The Skinny Malta, shrunk down MICHAEL FALZON The PN's financial woes - 2 PAGE 7 No 138 – Ready Player 99 JOSANNE CASSAR Political parties which cannot live within their means PAGE 6 EDITORIAL Citizens' Assembly can chip away at EU trust deficit PAGE 2 SAVIOUR BALZAN The sins of the past, conveniently forgotten PAGE 5 How long do you have to wait, exactly, before the mother is in such danger of losing her life, that intervention becomes necessary? And what if, by that time, it is too late? Joseph Portelli (left) held aloft together with his son Tristen, the president of Nadur Youngsters