the accusations of the mother of a Romanian footballer. Reported by the Malta Football Federation- Corriere.it

Already accused in recent days of sexual harassment (from which he defended himself through his lawyers defining them as false and unfounded), other accusations rained on Devis Mangia, suspended from the role of Malta coach (and in the past on the bench of Italy Under 21). The mother of Razvan Popa, a central defender released from this summer (and with a past in the Inter youth teams), but in the two-year period 2017-2019 coached by Mangia at the Universitatea Craiova, told of the alleged harassment suffered by his son by the ‘trainer. Then the Federation of Malta reported the coach to the police, also adding that they are actively and constantly evaluating all the developments in relation to the case.

Although the case is still in the phase of the accusations, the gravity of the allegations makes it imperative for the Association to seek advice from both FIFA and UEFA, adopting the same approach used in cases relating to integrity problems in international football, the federal communiqué reads. .

The woman said her son went through a deep depression after being harassed by the Italian coach. First he asked him about his sexual activity, then he started making direct advances, he said. Also according to his story, Mangia would have marginalized him from the team after his refusal: he was helped by the club to escape. Then the episode also of an alleged quarrel between the coach and his son during a match: When he changed him, he passed by him and said in Italian “I’ll break your face in the locker room”. I thought they were hot words, but I know from Razvan, from what he remembers, that Mangia put a hand on his neck and pinned him to the wall. He no longer remembers anything. For him he wanted to leave the team and not talk to the coach anymore, only with Mihai Rotaru (which holds 10% of the club’s shares, ed.), but he was not in Romania at the time. We tried to talk to someone and they said he would talk to the manager, but when the club called us back he told us that neither he nor the players knew anything. The fact that Mangia lied was the icing on the cake.

Heavy accusations, with the woman who then told of having insisted with the club, managing to speak with Rotaru, until the termination of the contract on 14 April 2019: We felt that the decision was taken under our pressure. The company then called us and thanked us for doing nothing and I was told that Mangia had left the country. And at the end of the season, Popa also said goodbye to the team.