Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1489264
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 JANUARY 2023 NEWS New chapter, same philosophy? Malta national football team hopes to retain momentum A positive run for the Maltese national football team was brought to an end by the departure of the Italian Devis Mangia over sexual harassment claims. But will the young national team's attacking style of football continue under replacement Marco Marcolini? KARL AZZOPARDI JUST as Malta's national team was start- ed to churn out positive results, the coun- try's footballing community was rocked by sexual harassment claims against head coach Devis Mangia. The future looked bright for Malta's national team, with Devis Mangia man- aging the team to its longest undefeat- ed streak in its history – seven match- es – between 6 September 2020 and 24 March 2021. The also took a more positive approach to the game, looking to get on the front foot while playing attacking football. Mangia's proactive style of football saw Malta get wins against Gibraltar, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Andorra, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, San Marino and Israel. In September Malta also drew with the 2004 Europe- an champions Greece. Mangia was appointed on a four-year contract in December 2019, having pre- viously managed the Italian U21 team, guiding the Azzurrini to qualification to the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, where the Italian team made it to the final, before being defeat- ed 4–2 by Spain. He stepped down from his role after the end of the tournament. Previously he had been temporary head coach for Italian side Palermo, following the dismissal of Stefano Pioli. Under Mangia's tenure, Palermo sig- nificantly improved and achieved three wins and 10 points in the first five Serie A games. With Malta, under Mangia's tenure, veteran players were phased out and new young players got the call. The de- cisions were translated into positive, attacking football, and names like Ted- dy Theuma and Jurgen Degabriele had become household names during Man- gia's tenure. Quick halt But the momentum was quickly halt- ed after sexual harassment allegations against the now former coach made headlines. It was alleged he had made advances of a sexual nature on a play- er in the Malta squad. He has denied all allegations. He was suspended from his post pend- ing an investigation by the association, but has now tendered his resignation. The MFA's safeguarding officer had re- quested additional time to complete his investigations into the case some three weeks ago. Mangia, who married in 2019, was already accused of entertaining inti- mate relations with footballers when he coached University of Craiova in Ro- mania. The accusations were made by another former coach, Victor Pițurcă, who said Mangia had made advanc- es to footballer Răzvan Popa when he coached the team between 2017 and 2019. Club owner Mihai Rotaru had stated that Mangia was not fired, but that he had agreed to leave following discussions. "We really care about De- vis, he was part of our family," Rotaru stated at the time. But similar accounts abound from yet another surprise departure by Mangia in 2016, from Ascoli, when the coach claimed he had to leave the club due to health problems. Mangia was impli- cated in an incident that took place at a Novara hotel in May 2016 when he and another football player were reported to have left the football team's retreat for hours on end. The MFA said that Mangia was ready to cooperate in its safeguarding hear- ings on the allegations levelled against him, which revolved around the alleged "inappropriate conversations". But it is unclear whether this was the conclusion reached by the Safeguarding Officer. It is also unclear whether Mangia's de- cision to resign was linked to the con- clusion of the Safeguarding Officer's investigation. Meanwhile, in a statement released to the media through his lawyer Giannella de Marco, Mangia said his decision to Head coach Devis Mangia resigned after being accused of making advances of a sexual nature on a player in the Malta squad