Davies Mangia, the former coach of CS Universitatea Craiova, has denied allegations of misconduct hours after he was suspended as head coach of the Malta national football team, the Times of Malta reports.

Davis Mangia Denies Sexual Harassment Allegations: ‘Unsubstantiated and Fake News’

Mangia was suspended by the board of the Malta Football Association after the player reported allegations of sexual harassment against him. Later, the second player of the national team came forward and accused similar behavior.

The Malta Football Association announced on Wednesday that it had launched an internal investigation and Mangia told Italian media that he vehemently denied all the allegations.

“Regarding the news published in the national media, I must explain that I have never, now or in the past, shown any behavior that harms the personal or sexual dignity of any person, not least a football player or any – someone else member of the federation. All these are unfounded and false news that harm my personal dignity and professional reputation,” the statement reads.

Mangia, assisted by lawyer Fabio Pinelli, threatened legal action against those who continued to publish or distribute such news.

“If such false allegations continue to be published, I reserve the right to file a defamation complaint. In any case, all further communications will be carried out by the Maltese Federation, respecting the integrity of our professional relationship,” the statement said.

On Wednesday, the Football Association of Malta decided to extend the suspension of Mangia from the position of coach of the national team and opened an investigation into the case, writes News.ro.

Davies Mangia, who has been Malta’s national coach since 2019, coached Palermo in Serie A in the 2011–12 season. He also coached teams such as the Italian youth national team (2012-2013), La Spezia and Bari.

From May 2017 to April 2019, Manja coached Craiova University, managed to win the Romanian Cup in 2018.