A hearing of the Disciplinary Commissioner was held on 25 July 2024 to decide on a Supplementary Report submitted by the referees of the match, Ronnie Spiteri and Alessandro Roberti in respect of the Premier League match between San Giljan and Sliema played on the 17 July 2024.
The ASA General Secretary confirmed that he received the Supplementary Report within the time frame defined in TOR-22(ii)(d).
The persons listed below were present.
The Disciplinary Commissioner, Alan Bonello;
The ASA General Secretary, George Farrugia;
Referee Ronnie Spiteri, one of the referees who made the report.
The Disciplinary Commissioner was also shown correspondence that proved that the communication of the report to the parties concerned was in conformity with TOR-23(ii) and TOR-23(iii).
Noting the absence of the accused Jonathan Bonello, the General Secretary confirmed that since Jonathan Bonello is not directly associated with San Giljan, he had endeavoured to forward a copy of
the report to him. The General Secretary did not manage to contact the accused.
When contacted by phone, San Giljan confirmed that they had not informed Jonathan Bonello about the hearing. TOR-23(ii) states, inter alia, that “The individual subject/s of the report including the Club
itself, its players, team officials, club officials, members, supporters (identified or unidentified) and any other individuals associated with the Club, are deemed to have been informed about the report once
the General Secretary has forwarded a copy of the report to the President and/or Secretary of the Club.”
Therefore, in terms of TOR-24(iv)(b), the DC proceeded with the hearing.
Referees’ Supplementary Report “San Giljan supporter, Jonathan Bonello, from the San Giljan side, near the VIP, he started shouting at me “foxx demmek, jien noboghdok personali, u f’foxx il-familja tieghek. After the game, he sent me an SMS on messenger that I have no right to talk to him back. Copy attached “Xorta erbahna int ma ghandekx dritt tkellem supporters”.
Considerations & Evidence
Referee Ronnie Spiteri said that, during the match, he identified the supporter as being one of 3 Bonello brothers whom he knew by sight. The referee identified the accused by name because in the Messenger message that Jonathan Bonello had sent the referee (at 22:07) there was a photograph of the accused that Ronnie identified as the person who had passed the offensive remarks at him during the match.
Ronnie Spiteri confirmed the contents of the report. He also said that, later on, Jonathan Bonello had sent him another Messenger message that was produced as evidence. The contents of this message alleged that the referee had made gestures at the supporters.
The referee denied that he had spoken to, or made gestures at, the supporters except when he identified the accused to the ASA Chief Security Officer, Tonio Zampa, by pointing at the accused and
telling him (Tonio Zampa) that Jonathan Bonello was passing offensive remarks at him (the referee).
Tonio Zampa gave evidence as a witness and confirmed that Ronnie Spiteri did not communicate in any way with the accused and he confirmed the statement made by Ronnie Spiteri, that the referee had pointed at Jonathan Bonello and informed him (Tonio Zampa) that the accused was passing offensive remarks.
Tonio Zampa also stated that during the match he was standing a couple of metres behind Jonathan Bonello. Initially, Bonello’s remarks could be considered to be “protests” or “contestations”, but as the
match progressed, the remarks became personally offensive in the referee’s regard and Tonio Zampa approached Jonathan Bonello and gave him a first warning. Bonello was quiet for a few minutes but the offensive remarks, as per the referees’ report, resumed. At this point, Tonio Zampa gave Jonathan Bonello a final warning. From this point onwards, the accused did not pass any more comments.
Richard Magri, who was a goal-judge in the match, testified that he heard the comments that Ronnie Spiteri included in the report. He was certain that these comments originated from the San Giljan supporters who were behind him. However, he could not identify the person who was uttering them.
Conclusion & Decision
The Disciplinary Commissioner concludes that identified San Giljan supporter Jonathan Bonello is guilty of passing insolent remarks at the referee, insulting the referee using unacceptable language
and showing disrespect towards the referee as per DC-C1-10, DC-C1-11, DC-C1-12 and DC-C1-14.
Identified San Giljan Supporter Jonathan Bonello is guilty in terms of DC-C2 and, by association with DC-C1-10, DC-C1-11, DC-C1-12 and DC-C1-14, is suspended from all ASA activities up to the 30 November 2024 with effect from 26 July 2024.
As stated in DC-C2, during the period that the identified supporter is suspended from all ASA activities, all the provisions listed in the definition of a suspension from all ASA activities shall apply. In particular, the identified supporter shall be banned from attending any Water Polo matches or Swimming Events organised by the ASA. If the identified supporter goes against this ban, then the provisions of DC- C1 may be applied as if the supporter was not identified.
