Athletes from 16 sports disciplines affiliated and recognised by the Maltese Olympic Committee and who have distinguished themselves during the 2009 Year of Sport, will be heading for the major honours during the eighth Edition of the MOC Sports Awards scheduled for Sunday 6 December at the Excelsior Hotel, Floriana.

While organisational and presentation night details will be announced on Monday 30 November during the media conference, the Organising Committee, led by Norman Hamilton, during the past months has worked on a high calibre gala night where both local and international entertainment, as well as local and international sports personalities will be in the limelight.

The Organising Committee moreover has reached agreement with Melita Cable whereas the event will be transmitted live at 8pm. Net TV, One TV and Education 22 will be airing repetitions of the Awards Night.

This year’s event is once again sponsored by the Malta International Airport plc as part of its ‘Supporting Malta’s Sport’ policy that promotes a better and healthier lifestyle among the Maltese society, instills a greater sense of national pride and assists in the development of young talented athletes.

In addition, this year the Platinum Award is sponsored by Coca Cola, the Gold Award is sponsored by Meli Group of Companies, the Silver Award by HSBC, the Bronze Award by the Malta Remote Gaming Council and the Local Council Award by Maltapost plc.

During the ceremony, six local sports personalities, either from the sporting, administrative or sport media sector, will be inducted in the MOC Hall of Fame.

Under the chairmanship of the Robert Arrigo MP, the adjudicating board has vetted a number of nominees with the final list of six new Hall of Fame members to be announced during the 6 December ceremony.



Seminar organised by the Maltese Olympic Committee - ‘The woman athlete’



‘The Woman Athlete’ was the main issue during a seminar organised by the Maltese Olympic Committee and during which various aspects relative to the the same theme were discussed with emphasis on ‘The Woman Athlete’ within the local perspective.

Besides leading MOC officials, namely President Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, General Secretary Joseph Cassar and MOC Director of Sport Mark Cutajar, keynote speakers were Ms Isabelle Zarb – former athlete and coach with vast experience within the local sport administration sector, MOC Director Ms Adele Muscat, definitely one of Malta’ leading sports psychologists, Ralph Mifsud, who is a qualified IAAF elite coach lecturer, personal fitness trainer and IAAF Level 1 lecturer, as well as MOC Director Dr Lucienne Attard (photo), who is the head of the MOC Medical Commission and with vast international experience in the sports medicine field .

The seminar was held at the MOC Headquarters last Friday with the participation of delegates and athletes from various national associations affiliated and recognised by the Maltese Olympic Committee.



Female ski jumpers hear reasons for case dismissal by British Columbia Appeal Court



Vancouver Olympic organisers didn’t violate women ski jumpers’ rights because they had no power to include their event in the coming Winters Games.

The British Columbia Appeal Court provided written reasons on Friday for its decision last week to dismiss an appeal filed by female jumpers seeking to overturn a lower court ruling that allowed organisers to hold a men’s ski jumping competition but not a women’s event. The women argued that violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The women had asked the courts to rule that the organising committee, known as VANOC, must either include a women’s ski jumping event in February's games or cancel the men’s event.

The three-member appeals panel unanimously rejected their appeal last week, but provided their reasons for doing so only on Friday.

British Columbia’s highest court concluded that while excluding the women’s event was discriminatory, VANOC could not be held accountable because the decision rested solely with the International Olympic Committee.

“It is a case in which a non-governmental body (VANOC) is brought before the court as a result of policies which neither it nor any Canadian authority has the power to change,” the justices wrote in the ruling.

“VANOC simply does not have the power to determine what events are included in the 2010 Olympic programme.”

The British Columbia Supreme Court ruled in July that the IOC was discriminating against the female ski jumpers, but Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon said the court did not have the power to order the sport to be part of the programme.

Both VANOC and the lawyer for the female jumpers declined to comment on Friday.

The women could seek an appeal before the Supreme Court of Canada, but that process could take months and the Vancouver opening ceremonies are less than three months away.

Ski jumping is the only Olympic sport without events for both men and women since the IOC voted this year to include women’s boxing in the Summer Olympics.

The IOC voted in 2006 to not include women’s ski jumping at the games, saying the sport had not met the required technical criteria.

It will be on the programme for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, and the international body that governs ski jumping has said it will press for its inclusion for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.



BMW signs up as 2012 London Olympics sponsor



BMW has signed up as the latest top-tier domestic sponsor of the 2012 London Olympics, and organisers remain in talks with additional potential investors.

The German carmaker was presented last week as the official automotive sponsor of the games in a deal worth an estimated £40 million in cash and services.

BMW will provide about 4,000 vehicles to transport athletes, officials and other members of the Olympic community. The deal is primarily to provide BMWs and Minis, but luxury Rolls-Royce limousines are being considered as an option for senior figures.

As the seventh top-level sponsor and 24th overall of the games, the deal brings London’s total revenue so far from domestic sponsors to nearly £600 million. The overall target is £700 million.

“We are well on our way to that with two and bit years to go,” Sebastian Coe, who heads London’s organising committee, told The Associated Press. “There are a number of competitive discussions out there in any number of categories. We have got other things lined up.”

The other top-tier sponsors are Adidas, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB.