Fl-ewwel ta’ Ġunju ta’ din is-sena beda t-tournament tal-bnadar madwar id-dinja kollha. Issa wasalna fil-quarter-final imma sfortunatament Malta ma tagħmilhiex ma’ dan ir-rawnd. Tkellimna mal-amministratur tal-paġna u qalilna, “Bla dubbju ser nimmisja lil Maltin jivvutaw, jikkummentaw u jxerrdu l-bnadar f’diversi gruppi. Nispera li jkomplu jaraw il-paġna u jieħdu sehem fil-votazzjoni. Forsi jipprovaw jirbħu t-tournament mill-ġdid fil-futur”.
Staqsejnieh ukoll x’dejjqu u x’għoġbu l-aktar mill-Maltin. “Għoġbitni s-sens ta’ unita u nazzjonaliżmu. Kont urtat għal bidu meta l-poll marret viral u nirċievi ħafna messaġġi biex jipprovaw ixaħmuni biex nagħmel lil Malta tirbaħ fit-tournament. Imma grazzi għal poplu Malti fhimt x’ġara”. Lill-amministratur uħud mill-Maltin jgħidulu bl-istorja ta’ korruzzjoni fil-politika Maltija u dak kien l-iskop ta’ wħud mill-kummenti.
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X’ġara wara li Malta tilfet vera li rċieva diversi messaġġi koroh? “Nofshom kienu juru d-dwejjaq tat-telfa, kien hemm uħud li kkumplimentaw it-tournament u saqsewni fuq turnaments tal-futur. Kien hemm ukoll messaġġi li jakkużawni b’korruzzjoni u li użajt profili foloz biex nagħmel lil Malta titlef”. Staqsejnieh kif ħassu dwar dan l-aġir, l-amministratur qalilna, “Ma jimpurtax għax nifhem kompletament l-utenti li qed jieħdu sehem fit-tournament u l-għatx li jirbħu t-tournament”.
Imma x’jaħseb fuq il-bandiera Maltija u liema hi l-aktar bandiera li togħġbu? L-Amministratur qalilna li ma xtaqx jgħid liema waħda togħġbu għax ma rridx bl-ebda mod juri li hemm xi bias. Fuq il-bandiera Maltija qalilna li għal bidu xħin tara taħseb li hi bandiera komuni, “Imma kont sorpriż li niskopri t-tifsira proprja tal-kuluri u d-dettall interessanti tal-George cross”.
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Fl-aħħar tlabnih jibgħatilna messaġġ għal dawk il-Maltin li vvutaw. “Nixtieq nirringrazzjakom kollha talli ħloqtu din il-komunità wara dan it-tournament. Nixtieq vera li tkomplu tivvotaw u tissaportjaw lil dan it-tournament sal-finali. Filwaqt li tkunu preparati biex terġgħu tivvotaw għall-bandiera tagħkom fil-futur!”
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L-Intervista saret bl-ingliż u tista’ tara kollha hawn isfel. L-Amministratur xtaqt jibqa’ anonimu:
Interviewing the administrator of the World Flag Tournament few hours after Malta’s defeat
Good afternoon and thank you for accepting our invitation, can you please tell us when this flair for flags started?
It started on the 1st of June with the first poll of the 128th of finals and now we’re at the end of the eight of finals with the quarter of finals starting tomorrow.
Are you going to miss the Maltese now that they are out of the game?
Of course, I will miss Maltese people voting, commenting, and mainly sharing the poll on thousands of different groups. I hope they will continue to follow the page and vote for different flags on the polls of quarter of finals, semifinals and finals. And maybe try to win the tournament again when it will restart in the future!
What did you like about the Maltese people and what bothered you the most?
I liked their sense of unity and nationalism. I was bothered at first, when the polls became viral, by all the messages “trying” to bribe me to make Malta win the poll and the tournament but then, thanks to other Maltese people that cleared it up, I found out it was related to the history of corruption in the Maltese government and I started to enjoy it.
Is it true that you received bad messages after the defeat?
After the defeat, I received loads of messages. Half of them were about sadness for the defeat, compliments about the tournament, and requests about future tournaments while the other half were messages of mainly complaints but accusing me of corruption, using fake profiles and bots to make Malta lose. I don’t mind it so much as I completely understand people being so into the tournament and wanting their flag to win and I know that the majority of the people voting, especially Maltese ones, never even thought about chances of corruption or tools used to make some flags win their polls.
What is your personal thought on the Maltese flag, and which is your favourite flag?
I prefer to not tell which one is my favourite flag as it will be possible for people to use it as a reason for biasedness of the tournament in this one or future ones. To be sincere the flag of Malta looks quite normal at the first look but it has been so surprising to discover all the meanings behind the colours and all the little details of the George Cross.
A message to the Maltese that voted in the tournament…
I want to thank you all for creating such a community behind this tournament and I really hope you’ll continue to follow these final phases of the tournament and be ready to vote for your flag in the future runs of it!
