Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1516944
A former Attard FC committee member has been jailed for six months and interdicted for life for match-fixing, after his pun- ishment was increased on ap- peal. During his arraignment in Jan- uary 2021, 24-year-old Rudgear Scerri admitted his involvement in the manipulation of an ama- teur league match between At- tard FC and Kalkara FC in De- cember 2020. He had also pleaded guilty to having failed to alert the Com- missioner of Police about that manipulation, and to having taken bets without the requisite licence. Scerri was arrested by police acting on a tip-off, who raided the residence he had been sharing with his girlfriend. Po- lice found a stash of between €20,000 and €30,000 in cash at his home. In view of his guilty plea, the Court of Magistrates had sen- tenced him to two years in pris- on, suspended for four, together with a €50,000 fine. Attard FC had distanced itself from Scerri in the wake of the 2021 conviction, removing him from the committee by a unan- imous vote. As a result of the match-fixing scandal, the club was stripped of nine points, fined €1,000 and prohibited from par- ticipating in international tour- naments for five years. The Attorney General subse- quently filed an appeal to Scer- ri's sentence, arguing that under the Prevention of Corruption in Sport Act, the crime of ma- nipulating a sporting event was punishable by a prison sentence of up to three years. Individuals convicted of offences under that law also had to be prohibited from participation in any sport in Malta for a long time. Mr Justice Neville Camilleri, presiding the Court of Criminal Appeal, noted that in terms of that law a prison sentence was mandatory, in the light of which, the court's hands were tied. While noting Scerri's clean criminal record and early guilty plea on the one hand, the Court of Appeal said that the Attorney General was also correct in argu- ing that the punishment of per- petual general interdiction was also obligatory in terms of law. Upholding the appeal, the court sentenced Scerri to im- prisonment for six months and prohibited him from attending any sporting event or even being present in the same building as one, for ten years, also ordering his perpetual general interdic- tion. 16 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 MARCH 2024 NEWS ACROSS 1) Inflatable lifesaver 5) California border lake 10) ___ Linda, Calif. 14) Slick with lubricant 15) Love, French-style 16) Common and Christian 17) Works Christmas eve? 20) Men and women 21) Mania 22) Letters for a toddler 24) "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper 25) "Erie Canal" mule 27) 2,000 pounds 28) Web-footed males 30) "Out," to an editor 31) Suffix for the very best 32) Munro's nom de plume 33) Brilliant 35) What a good weepie does? 39) Ore of lead 40) Ancient South American emp1re 43) Start to function? 46) Like some food orders 47) Well-seasoned stew 49) "What was ___ think?" 50) Female sheep 51) Charged-up atom 52) Tiny 53) Drummer Ringo 55) Refuse to take no for an answer 57) Has a long-awaited meal? 62) Frosts cupcakes 63) More sick 64) Opera feature 65) Button on a butcher's scale 66) Manicurist's board 67) Class ender DOWN 1) One way to cross a river 2) Breathe it in 3) Griddle creation 4) Use an old IBM Selectric 5) Brownish grays 6) Abundant 7) Thing to never give up 8) "Days of ___ Lives" 9) Palindromic "before" 10) Look rudely 11) Showily adorned 12) Passover dumplings 13) Give the OK 18) Filet favorite 19) Cornea's companion 22) Classified things 23) One of Victoria's secrets 25) Nasal dividers 26) Nautical direction that avoids the wind 29) Card in a royal flush 30) "Beats me," slangily 33) Attack on a fort 34) Navy lockup 36) Steady twosome 37) Like a snail 38) Winter accessory in Buffalo 41) Give a signal to 42) Munched 43) Loner 44) Infamous New York prison riot site 45) Auto repair shop offering 47) Beads for the prayerful 48) Licorice-flavored liqueur 51) Conclude from the facts 54) Swell, as a river 55) Speck in the ocean 56) Pierce with a harpoon 58) Hotfoot it 59) Horrible Freddy's street 60) Shutout score, in soccer 61) Guy's go-with F Solution to last week's crossword The answers to today's crossword will be published in next week's Midweek edition Weather Fine with high clouds becoming rather cloudy by evening Visibility Good Wind West Southwest force 3 to 4 locally force 4 to 5 becoming force 4 to 5 locally force 5 to 6. TOMORROW Crossword WEATHER WINDY 18 0 / 10 0 TODAY WINDY 17 / 11 0 FEELS LIKE 18 0 FEELS LIKE 18 0 MATTHEW AGIUS magius@mediatoday.com.mt Former Attard FC committee member jailed six months for match-fixing