As Malta Reacts To Coach Devis Mangia’s Suspension, Here’s A Look At His Questionable Past
The news that Malta Head Coach Devis Mangia has been temporarily suspended following alleged sexual advances on at least one national football player has sent shockwaves through the island’s sporting community.
With the Malta Football Association holding an executive board meeting tomorrow to determine their next step, and the police reportedly investigating a recording of Mangia’s advance on a prominent player, many are asking: how could it have gotten to this?
Indeed, a look at Mangia’s coaching past reveals a lot about a man who was once considered a rising star in Italian coaching. Clearly a talented coach, able to take relatively weak teams on to impressive wins, one can already sense a strange undercurrent when glancing at Mangia’s track record with clubs.
From 2007 to 2019, Mangia did not remain at any club for more than a year or two… oftentimes for just a few months.
It’s worth noting that in Italian football, coaches are replaced regularly, typically after a run of defeats and poor performances. However, in Mangia’s case, his teams would often be performing well… only for him to then be dismissed for personal reasons.
Most reports decline to go into detail over why he was let go, oftentimes citing “behavioural” issues. However, some cases made it to the public.
In 2021, Romanian media outlet Fanatik wrote extensively about Mangia in an exclusive story.
They reported that a former coach, Victor Pițurcă, the former coach of CS Universitatea Craiova, had told media that Mangia was gay, and that he had made sexual advances on players. Romanian media, which doesn’t have as strong legal protections over sexual identity, made a meal out of the detail.
In the report, Fanatik alleged that Mangia made moves on Răzvan Popa, a Romanian footballer who used to play with Inter Milan’s youth teams.
However, the report also notes the success Mangia brought to CS Universitatea Craiova, the team he was coaching between 2017 to 2019 – right before he joined the Maltese national team, saying he brought a trophy home after a “25-year wait.”
Romanian media have already reported on Mangia’s latest scandal today, with the allegations made against them still fresh in their minds.
Italian media had reported on “rumours” swirling around Mangia’s conduct all the way back in 2016.
Il Centro reported on an incident that happened back in May, 2016, where a number of Ascoli players complained about “the behaviour of the coach”.
According to Il Centro, the incident goes back to a stay in a hotel in Novara before a match. During this stay, Mangia’s conduct had disgusted some players so much that they even left the hotel for “a few hours”, before returning.
“Did the MFA do their due diligence before they hired Mangia?” one very prominent football player told Lovin Malta on condition of anonymity. “If they didn’t, they need to be liable – and if they did, and knew of Mangia’s past, someone must resign and be held accountable.”
There’s no denying Mangia’s talent as a coach; he famously led Malta’s national team to a 3-0 victory over Cyprus and a 2-2 draw with Slovakia last year and also secured victories against the likes of Latvia and Gibraltar.
Questions now arise over whether his skill as a coach led to sports authorities – be they Romanian, Italian or Maltese – turning a blind eye to any potential sexual abuse happening under his watch.
Mangia had access to some of Malta’s top players, of different age groups. His contract with the national team is set to expire in December 2023 – but as it stands it seems unlikely that he’ll be renewing for another season.
What do you make of Mangia’s chequered past?
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