Watch: Senglea Regatta Club Warns They Were Unfairly Denied Freedom Day Victory And Pledge Legal Action
Senglea’s Regatta club warned they were unfairly and unjustly denied victory during the Freedom Day race and pledged legal action over serious violations of regulations.
Although Senglea had established a healthy lead by the end of the third Category A race, the organisers controversially ordered the race to restart. Birgu ended up victorious in what was their first Freedom Day regatta win since 1992.
However, the Senglea Regatta Club has now warned that they were “unjustly and unfairly denied victory in this regatta due to serious violations of regulations, breaches of the law, and blatant acts of bullying – witnessed by all – by the Bormla Regatta Club.”
Senglea had won the first race and finished second in the second one, giving them a 12-point lead over second-placed Birgu going into the third race.
In the third race, the Dgħajsa tal- Pass ta’ Żewġ Mqadef, Senglea secured another victory to extend their lead to 24 points over second-placed Bormla, who had by then pipped Birgu.
However, Senglea warned that the Bormla Club took “unjustified and unsportsmanlike action” after the race, by ordering some of their rowers to position their boats in the middle of the racecourse and deliberately block further races.
They said some Bormla club members even went directly to the Valeltta Waterfront, where event organisers and club delegates were gathered, and protested with insults, swearing, shouting, and other “inappropriate behaviour”.
They said that Birgu sent a boat of its own shortly afterwards to support Bormla’s protest. Upon being informed by their representative on-site, Senglea immediately headed to the Waterfront.
Senglea warned that established regatta regulations were then “twisted, broken and completely ignored”.
They noted that the rules expressly forbid clubs from protesting during the regatta, stating that they must instead file official complaints within 15 days after the race has concluded.
However, the organisers summoned the technical board to hear Bormla’s protest on the spot.
Senglea noted that the rules state the technical board should only be convened in “extraordinary circumstances”, such as a fatality or extreme weather conditions during the regatta.
However, the organisers ordered the race to restart.
Moreover, they warned that the Chief Judge failed to enforce the rules which oblige them to halt a race if a collision occurs within the first 200 metres of the race.
They also said that after the board accepted the protest filed by Bormla and Birgu and ordered the race to restart, the same rowers from these two clubs – together with Senglea – rowed under protest and deliberately allowed the remaining competitors to finish the race unchallenged.
“This clearly demonstrates that even the rowers themselves did not agree with the decision,” Senglea said.
“Given these clear breaches of the rules, we will be taking legal action against all responsible parties. We also call upon the organisation to rectify this injustice in a fair and proper manner.”
READ NEXT: 20 New Bins Installed At Top Of The World Thanks To McDonald’s And Local Councils
