Government MPs block questions on Manchester United freebies

Four government MPs, headed by Cleansing Parliamentary Secretary Glenn Bedingfield, blocked the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) from seeking information regarding freebies distributed by the government in connection with its multi-million-euro Manchester United Football Club sponsorship.

During a meeting of the PAC, Chairman Darren Carabott asked the Tourism Ministry’s Permanent Secretary a series of questions regarding the MTA’s sponsorship.

Carabott asked the Permanent Secretary Christopher Cutajar for a list of Manchester United tickets which the Ministry or the MTA distributed for free as part of its publicly funded sponsorship deal.

Carabott also asked for a list of the individuals given these free tickets, if the Ministry was also involved in paying for their flights and hospitality in the UK, and to state who the government official was deciding on who should get what.

Labour MP Bedingfield objected, arguing that such questions had nothing to do with public accounts as, according to him, these free tickets did not involve any government expense.

PN MP Carabott countered, insisting on his questions as these tickets were part and parcel of a deal struck and paid through public funds.

Still, Bedingfield objected and forced a vote to stop the questioning.

He got the support of his fellow government MPs, Amanda Grech, Naomi Cachia and Alex Muscat, who voted to stop the questions.

They insisted that they had no objection to the full presentation of the agreement with Manchester United to the PAC.

The Shift had revealed that the estimated €20 million deal with Manchester United, struck initially by disgraced former minister Konrad Mizzi, was being abused through the distribution of free tickets for canvassers and Labour Party supporters to watch the team playing at Old Trafford.

Former Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo admitted that free tickets had initially been distributed, but he later told The Shift that “the list of beneficiaries doesn’t exist.”

Secret deal

Disgraced former minister Konrad Mizzi first struck the sponsorship deal with Manchester United in 2019.

The government refused to publish the agreement at the time despite reports that some €20 million was paid for the three-year contract.

In September 2022, Minister Clayton Bartolo travelled to Manchester to sign the contract’s renewal with a government delegation of some 11 people, also attending the season-opening match at Old Trafford.

The minister’s girlfriend, Amanda Muscat, was also part of the delegation, but Bartolo insisted that she paid for her trip.

The contract with Manchester United ends this year.