No Irregularities Found By Probe Into Alleged Eurovision Betting Spend, Minister Claims
An investigation into the allegation that Malta spent a considerable proportion of its Eurovision budget on manipulating betting odds to favour Malta’s entry, has found no wrongdoing, according to the broadcasting minister Carmelo Abela.
The probe was launched earlier this year after the Times of Malta had reported that Malta had spent over €650,000 promoting Malta’s entry. It was claimed that a part of the budget was used to manipulate betting odds in order to make Malta a frontrunner going into the competition.
In an interview with the Malta Independent, Abela said that “the audit found that both the Malta Tourism Authority and the Public Broadcasting Service worked within their own respective procurement regulations”.
The minister declined to make the report public, arguing that there were restrictions on the publication of the full report by those who penned it, again insisting that the audit had found that both entities acted within “established procurement procedures”.
Abela made no reference to whether or not the allegation was true, and if so, how much taxpayer money was spent on betting odd manipulation.
Malta was considered to be among the frontrunners to win this year’s competition but ended up placing 7th on the right.
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