Cospicua accuse rivals Senglea of fabricating lies over Freedom Day regatt controversy

Taking legal advice to safeguard their interest

The Freedom Day regatta controversy took another twist when Cospicua Rowing Club issued a statement in which they accused neighbouring rivals Senglea of issuing a statement full of lies and unfounded insinuations and are taking legal advice to safeguard the club’s interests.

Earlier this week, Senglea Rowing Club issued a statement on its own, accusing Cospicua of blatant bullying, which led to a number of rules violations that seriously compromised their chances of winning the Freedom Day Regatta.

Vittoriosa went on to claim overall victory in the Open category after winning the final race of the 2025 edition to lift the shield for the fifth time in their club history.

However, during the past week, Senglea and Cospicua made their feeling clear on the controversy surrounding the Tal-Pass b’Żewġ Imqadef race which initially saw Senglea claim victory but was controversially re-run with Kalkara taking eventually victory.

In a statement, Cospicua Rowing Club said that they will keep Senglea Rowing Club and other individuals responsible for unfounded insinuations whose only interest is to damage the reputation of the Cospicua club.   

“The statement issued by the Sengela club was full of distorted facts, slander and it’s only intention is to put our club in a bad light, as well as other clubs and delegates who did their duty to safeguard the interest of their own club, according to the regulations of the Għaqda Regatta Nazzjonali,” the statement said.

“It’s a blatant lie that our officials tried to intimidate or tried to put pressure so that the Tal-Pass b’Żewgt Imqadef race will be held again. This pressure was not needed as everyone knows the regulations that say that when there is a collision before the 200m mark of the race, the regatta has to stop and start again.

 “Another lie in the Senglea statement is that the official result had already been published when everyone knows that for the official result to be published in the Pass b’Żewgt Imqadef race, the boats need to be weighed and the flags of the districts that placed in the top three position are raised.

“The boats weight-in never happened and no flag was raised and Senglea Rowing Club knows this fact very well and this can also be confirmed by the Għaqda Regatta Nazzjonali.

“More than that, the Senglea club knew that the race was not done according to the regulations and they sent their boat back so that the race is repeated.”

Cospicua said that their officials always acted according to the regulations and the instructions given by the Għaqda Regatta Nazzjonali and their officials did nothing more than what other club officials did to safeguard their interests, including the Senglea delegates.

“The Senglea officials also crossed the port on their boat like other club officials given that our districts are on the other side of the port,” the statement added.

“These are facts that nobody can challenge them. No doubt that episodes like these do not do any good or honour to our traditional sport. However, our club will always remain focused and will continue to look into the future as we know the potential that we have to win more honours.

“There is nothing that will stop our club from tarnishing our reputation and we are ready to keep the club of Senglea responsible for any damages that our club will suffer in the future.”