This year is the 60th anniversary since the FISEC Games started being held and it is appropriate they are being held in Malta, one of the pillars of these Games.

The Games are being held between 15 and 21 July. Over 700 athletes and officials will be taking part, these hailing from nine different countries, that is, Austria, Portugal, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Italy, United Kingdom, Belgium and Hungary. They will be taking part in competitions in eight different disciplines, that is, athletics, swimming, table-tennis, basketball, football, futsal, handball and volleyball.

The Maltese contingent consists of around 154 athletes – 94 males and 60 females.

Addressing a news conference yesterday at the Le Meridien Hotel in Balluta Bay, Mr Clyde Puli, Parliamentary Secretary responsible for Sport, announced that government aid (through the Maltese Council for Sport) this time amounted to around 33,670 euros which consisted mostly of the provision of several facilities where the competitions are to be held. These include the Cottonera Sports Complex, the Matthew Micallef St Joseph Athletic track at Marsa, the University Sports Hall and the Swimming Pool at Tal-Qroqq.

He said his secretariat was committed to aid sport as much as it could, especially where school sport was concerned. He added: “The government is aware that several of those students taking part in the FISEC Games will, one day, become Malta’s sporting heroes, as was the case in the past.”

Bro. Martin Borg, chairman of the Maltese FISEC Council, also addressed the press. He thanked the sponsors without whose support such Games could not be staged here.

He went on to explain why Malta is frequently given the go-ahead to stage the Games. “It was evident that everyone liked the way we have organised Games editions in the past. They also like the island, but this time there was also another reason. The Games had to be staged in California, US, but they had to withdraw in the last moments and we stepped in to take the responsibility. Next year, it will be Portugal, followed by France and the Netherlands. So far we only had one major problem. Instead of hosting the foreigners in one place as we did in the last edition staged here, we found it difficult to allocate them and, in fact, they will be dispersed in about eight hotels. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this will not constitute a problem,” he said.

Louis Borg, vice-chairman of the International Committee of FISEC, said the committee is very happy to be celebrating the Games’ 60th anniversary in Malta. “The motto for this year is ‘everyone is a winner’ and this has led the committee to decide in favour of presenting a commemorative medal to every athlete and official on this occasion.

David Azzopardi, the Chef de Mission of the Maltese contingent, said the Maltese are determined to do well this time once again. “Our athletics and swimming squads will be at full strength and they are determined to get on to the podium as much as possible,” he said.

Martin Agius, of General Soft Drinks Co Ltd, said the company was glad to sponsor such an event although it had now become a regular habit for the company to sponsor sports events on the island. He wished success to the organisers as well as the Maltese athletes during the Games.

Also present for the news conference were the new chairman of the Maltese Council for Sport, Bernard Vassallo, as well as Chief Executive officer of the same Council, Joe Cassar.