The Malta Football Association announced that Italian coach Devis Mangia has been temporarily relieved of duties amid reports of sexual misconduct with a player.
The 48-year-old tactician has been in charge of Malta since December 2019, having previously worked at Universitatea Craiova in Romania, Ascoli, Bari, Spezia and Palermo, as well as one season on the Italy Under-21 bench in 2012-13.
According to the Times of Malta newspaper, the Malta FA received a report about alleged sexual misconduct towards a national team player on Sunday.
That was followed by a statement from the FA confirming Mangia had been “temporarily relieved of his duties following a report it received about an alleged breach of its policies.”
It means assistant manager Davide Mazzotta, also Italian, will be in charge when Malta play Israel in a friendly match this evening.
The same sources also suggested there were accusations of an inappropriate relationship with a player when he was the coach of Universitatea Craiova in Romania from 2017-19.
He terminated his contract with that club by mutual consent in April 2019, with the team in third place and in the semi-finals of the Romanian Cup.
His contract with Malta runs to December 31, 2023.
Mangia married long-term girlfriend Delia in June 2019.