Malta may not take part in the two main sporting events this year – the Games for European Small States in Andorra and the Mediterranean Games in Almeira, Spain.

The Malta Olympic Committee is holding a meeting for all its affiliated associations next Thursday at its headquarters.

The MOC general secretary Joe Cassar said in a short note that the meeting is being held to discuss the financial assistance which should be granted by Government to the MOC to assist all associations, and the consequent implications in respect to technical preparation and international participation throughout this year.

It is now the practice for the Government to pass on the sports vote (funds) to the Maltese Council for Sport and this then hands it over to the associations according to their needs.

It is reliably understood that the MOC has come to know of the amount being allocated for these two sports events and is feeling that no adequate funding is in prospect for this year and this will therefore hamper its efforts to get its athletes in the best shape possible to be able to take part successfully in these competitions.

In this respect it is calling on all the affiliated associations to discuss the issue next Thursday and even take the necessary decisions, even if these have to include Malta’s withdrawal from the two main events of the year.

It is also understood that the MOC feels that some of the prevailing conditions which the Maltese Council of Sport has imposed, do not make sense and cannot be accepted.

It is evident that the Council of Sport and the Malta Olympic Committee are once again far apart. It had seemed, in the not too distant past, that the gap between the two main bodies had been bridged considerably after the intervention of the Minister of Education, responsible for Sport, Dr Louis Galea.

But this new issue confirms that the Council of Sport and the Malta Olympic Committee, despite knowing they have different roles to play, are still far apart.