LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Malta Football Association has announced that it has suspended temporarily the national teams head coach, the italian Devis Mangia, following a report the association has received on an alleged breach of its policies. Mangia is the former Italy Under 21 coach.
In an official statement, the Malta Football Association did not divulge the details on the allegations. However, the association added that the Italian coach gave all his assurances to cooperate during the undergoing investigations to establish the facts.
“The Malta FA communicates that Devis Mangia has been relieved temporarily of his duties as Head Coach of the National Teams following a report it received about an alleged breach of its policies,” the statement said. The shocking annoucement came on the day the Maltese national team is scheduled to play against Israel in Malta. Davide Mazzotta, the assistant coach, will be in charge of the Maltese national team. Mangia has been Malta’s national team coach for almost three years and his contract ends in December 2023.
Last Sunday the Maltese Football Association received a report on the alleged sexual misconduct against a player of the Maltese national team. The police in Malta are investigating a recorded footage they received that alleges Mangia’s sexual harassment against one of the national team football player. Meanwhile, the executive of the Malta Football Federation will meet tomorrow to discuss the latest shocking and scandalous developments.
Married in 2019, Mangia was already accused of intimate relationships with footballers when he coached the University of Craiova in Romania. The allegations were made by another former manager, Victor Pițurcă, who claimed that Mangia had made sexual advances to footballer Răzvan Popa when he coached the team between 2017 and 2019. Club owner Mihai Rotaru had stated at that time that Mangia had been fired but agreed to leave the club following discussions between the two sides. But similar stories fetched in 2016, when Mangia left the football team of Ascoli when the coach claimed to have health problems.
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(ITALPRESS).
