Maltese Sports Fans Open Up About Abuse They’ve Faced During Local Matches
Maltese sports fans have spoken up about abuse they’ve endured at local sports events after a young Maltese woman who plays on the national football team became the latest victim of public racial abuse.
Dorianne Mamo, a Maltese sports presenter, uploaded a status to Facebook expressing solidarity with Għargħur footballer Maya Lucia and any other Maltese youths or athletes who have been targeted by racist or discriminatory attacks “from those meant to be an example for younger generations”.
Mamo recounted an incident where she overheard a family having a conversation about Maya’s incident. During the conversation, the family’s young daughter burst out crying, leading to her saying she had been going through a similarly abusive situation but had “tried to live with it and ignore it because I don’t want to put the burden” on her family.
After Mamo’s shared the girl’s experience, several others commented with their own abusive experiences.
One man, whose wife is German, spoke about how his family had been called Nazis at activities “on a regular basis”.
Former Labour MP Luciano Busuttil also opened up about what his family had gone through, saying his daughter had also been on the receiving end of abuse.
“Seriously?” Mamo couldn’t help but say when seeing these stories. “We still have these imbeciles running around doing this kind of damage? We still need to raise awareness on this – and shame on you, if you know how the feel shame.”
Malta is still reeling from the Maya Lucia incident, which saw at least two alleged Mosta FC fans shout hateful comments about Lucia’s father during a match between Mosta FC and Għargħur Raiders. After the abuse, Lucia went on to score the match’s winning goal.
Have you ever faced discrimination of any sort during a local sporting event?
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