Water Polo Official, Suspended for Threatening Anti-Doping Personnel, Has His Suspension Significantly Reduced

The world of sports really needs transparency. Every team in every region of every nation is out to engineer a new way to get a competitive edge. With this happening behind closed doors, it is important, now more than ever, for doping to be kept under check. Even routine checks are often very inconvenient for players, especially the ones that don’t indulge in doping. However, at this point, it has almost become a necessary part of the game. That being said, there are still some, like water polo official Rainer Scerri, who show vehement disregard for anti-doping protocols.

Just recently, the labor party activist and water polo official received a two-year ban for threatening an anti-doping official. However, since then his sentence has been reduced.

Why was Scerri suspended?

Scerri is an official for the Neptunes team, who had reportedly urged the players not to take the test. Reports also suggest that Scerri threatened he would call Sports Minister Clifton Grima if his team was coerced to take the test. One official, who witnessed the incident, claims he heard Scerri say, “No, no, no they won’t take the test. I’m calling the minister.” However, Scerri has denied each of these accusations.

Scerri’s sentence was revised after a new investigation was ordered to recommence. He was asked to serve a lighter sentence the second time around because officials found no evidence of his alleged actions. However, they did find Scerri to be guilty of other grievances.

In the first instance, Scerri did not contest any of the charges against him and was thus deemed guilty. However, after Scerri’s appeal, the board ruled that his statement was not a clear admission of guilt.

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His sentence has consequently been reduced to merely a 10-match ban. This sentence came after the board found Scerri guilty of “refusing obedience or showing disrespect,” as well as  “behaving in such a way that is likely to bring the sport into disrepute and is likely to give a bad example and for disapproval of a decision using unacceptable language.”

Strange details of the case

Besides the 20-match ban, Scerri will also have to pay a €500 fine. Sources say Scerri is only barred from his team’s matches for the next three or four months. They claim the Scerri will return by spring. In the meantime, the official will only be missing a couple of small, winter championships.

Many also claim that Scerri called in lawyers such as Nationalist MP Adrian Delia. This is significant because the appeals board chair was another Nationalist MP – Joe Giglio. Many also found it strange that Scerri, a PL activist, was found guilty of a “fundamentally political” incident concerning a Labour minister. However, the truly weird part was that he was defended by a PN MP before an appeals board chaired by yet another PN MP.

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