Born in Hamrun in 1930, Portelli was educated at St Edward’s College and St Michael’s Training College. He established sports broadcasting on television in Malta.
Portelli started his career as a teacher but soon moved to the school broadcasting unit at the department of education. He then held several posts in the department of information (1955-78). In 1978 he left the civil service, joining the Dragonara and Verdala hotels first as pubhc relations executive and later as marketing manager. In 1990 he returned to the civil service as director of information, retiring in 1992.
In 1956 Portelli started his sports broadcasting career with regular broadcasts on Rediffusion. In 1960 he was attached to kill as commentator from Rome for the Olympic Games. These were the first-ever direct broadcasts from overseas in the history of local broadcasting. Between 1961 and 1975 he became a household name with his productions and presentations of Sports Magazine on Rediffusion and Sports Panorama and Rizultati Sportivi on Malta Television. In 1966 he was attached for a month with the BBC sports unit.
Portelli’s broadcasting and journalistic career has taken him all over the world covering international events such as the Olympic Games, the World Cup, and the Games of the Small States of Europe. In Mexico (1986) he was the personal guest of Franz Beckenbauer and travelled with the German football team. in 1989 he was awarded the International Olympic Committee trophy for his broadcasts and publications promoting the Olympic ideals, while in 1994 he was invited by the International Olympic Committee to present and read a paper on ‘Sport in Small Nations’ at the Centennial Olympic Congress at Sorbonne University in Paris.
In 1993 Portelli was awarded the Midalja ghall-Qadi tar-Repubblika (MQR) in recognition for his work in sport journalism and broadcasting. In 1997 he was awarded the Premju Mons. Azzopardi for his involvement with the Dar tal-Providenza, Siggiewi where he has been carrying Public Relations duties since the opening of its doors in 1965. In 2001, he won the Malta Press Club Award as the ‘Sports Writer of the Year’. In 2004 he was voted as ‘The Senior Citizen of the Year’, and awarded the insigna ‘Gieh Hal Balzan’.
A prolific author, his publications include History of the Olympic Games with special reference to Maltese participation; History of the World Cop, and History of the Games of the Small States of Europe. He is also the editor of The Malta Football Year Book.
Portelli is married to Josephine Borg.