Marsa FC players handed hefty bans for violent behaviour against match officials

Goalkeeper Dorian Bugeja handed three-year ban

The Malta FA Disciplinary Commissioner went down heavily on three Marsa FC players for assaulting match officials during their respective matches in the BOV Challenge League and the Youth League last weekend.

Goalkeeper Dorian Bugeja was handed a three-year ban from competitive football after he was found guilty of assaulting assistant referee Mitchell Scerri during last weekend’s league match against Pieta Hotspurs which the latter won 2-1.

According to the match report, Bugeja was punished as after he was shown the red card he assaulted assistant referee Mallia by “kicking with his studs up his abdominals with the consequence of inflicting injury.”

On the other hand, Marsa youth players Liam Stewart and Oretan Galea also received hefty bans after being found guilty of violent conduct against players and match officials during their Section C match against Tarxien Rainbow.

Stewart was handed a six-match ban after he was dismissed by the referee for kicking an opponent in an off-the-ball incident and after he was shown the red card he went on to push the referee.

On the other hand, Oretan Galea was handed a five-match ban after he was found guilty of assaulting an opponent in another off-the-ball incident. According to the match report, Galea adopted aggressive behaviour towards the referee after he was sent off.

The incidents had been put into light by the Malta Referees Association who condemned the behaviour of the Marsa FC players and had appealed to the Disciplinary Commissioner to come out heavy with its punishments.

On their part, Marsa FC on Tuesday issued a statement to condemn the behaviour of their players and said that they will be taking disciplinary action against the players involved “as we believe that every person involved in football should be respected.”

Marsa FC added that they were disappointed by the level of refereeing during their recent matches and are set to lodge a protest in front of the MFA so that disciplinary action will be taken against match officials who committed mistakes that could eventually hamper the team’s hopes of promotion to the Premier League.