Kevin Sammut banned for 10 years by UEFA

Malta international Kevin Sammut has been banned from any football related activity for ten years by UEFA following a match fixing investigation.

Sammut was found guilty of fixing the Malta Euro 2008 match against Norway. Two other Malta internationals, Stephen Wellman and Kenneth Scicluna were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Fraudster Mario Cvrtak uncovered the match fixing during a separate football betting scandal in Germany.

In April 2011 the Croat Ante Sapina and five others were accused in Bochum, Germany of fixing 47 games. Sapina admitted paying bribes to players to manipulate football matches across Europe. It is estimated that up to €1.6 million were won in illegal betting on these fixed games. In 2005 Sapina had already been sentenced to 35 months in jail after he was found guilt of fraud in another match-fixing scandal.

In the trial in Bochum, Marijo Cvrtak, one of the five accused with Sapina said that to fix the game he met three Maltese national team players before the game in their Oslo hotel. The evening before the match Cvrtak said he met another Maltese player in the player’s hotel room. Cvrtak told the court: “I would have rather had a 5-0 result, but the players had already agreed between them.”

During the match versus Norway, Sammut was subbed at half-time while Wellman and Scicluna played the full match. The game finished 4-0 for the Norwegians with three goals scored in the last 15 minutes of the match.

Watch the highlights from the match: