The federations affiliated to the Malta Olympic Committee were yesterday told that the MOC will possibly have to withdraw from international competitions this year which include the Small Nations Games, the Mediterranean Games, the European Youth Games and the Island Games.
MOC president Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco said this was despite the fact that the government was granting a lump sum of Lm150,000.
He told a well attended meeting of delegates of the federations yesterday evening that the MOC’s budget for this year predicted an income of Lm223,655 and an expenditure of Lm304,900. “And to arrive at these conservative figures, we had to make several cuts. In fact, if Malta is to participate in the Small Nations Games this year, it will have to be the smallest ever contingent taking part since these Games started in 1985. This is because the figures show that there will be a deficit of around Lm80,000 and when you include bonuses and other expenses, that amount would eventually increase to around Lm100,000. That certainly will make it impossible for us to have Malta represented at any of these Games,” he said.
The MOC president said that 14 federations of the 47 affiliated to the MOC were expected to send some of their athletes for participation in these Games. He said his Committee was pleased last Saturday to hear Dr Galea saying in his policy speech that government was committed to give sports its due importance. “Of course, we agree to having more people taking part in sport and our aims include that of seeing our athletes winning more medals. Having won 44 medals in the last Small Nations Games in Malta in 2003, we believe we have been on the right track with the right funding. We have done everything within our possibilities to help our sportsmen and sportswomen. We have given our contribution after having seen the government launch its sports tourism programme.
“But the Sports Law remains a big concern to the Olympic Committee. We must make it clear that the MOC is against certain aspects in the Law which go against the Olympic Charter. We believe there should be no interference with the running of sport, not even in financial matters,” he said.
Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco referred to a meeting between an MOC delegation and the Minister of Education, Dr Louis Galea, held yesterday. “We agreed on three of four proposals, but I sincerely say we do not yet know what our real position is. This is simply because in that meeting, Dr Galea told us that he was giving instructions to the Maltese Council of Sport (KMS) to see that the MOC will be responsible for verifying financial statements produced by athletes and officials. But just before yesterday evening’s meeting, the chairman of the KMS, Franco Azzopardi, had told him bluntly that he had not received any instructions from the Minister. This is fundamental for us as we are prepared to stay firm in our decision not to act as ‘messengers or delivery boys’. We agree that federations and their athletes have to pay VAT and income tax, we also want to respect the law, but we also want to keep our autonomy. Otherwise we will be prepared to withdraw our international participation this year,” he said.
Earlier, the MOC president said that there had been agreement on the immediate payment of the sum of Lm40,000 by the KMS to the MOC, a sum still pending from the last budget. He added that there was also agreement on the grant for sports from the government for this year – a sum of Lm150,000, “even if this amount will not be enough to cover the costs for the whole year, which will leave the MOC with a deficit of Lm80,000.”
Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said he and his committee thought it would not be wise on their part to use the Reserve fund (Lm67,000) or part of it, to ‘hide’ this problem. “The Minister was quite understandable on this matter, but we cannot perform miracles. We cannot decrease technical preparation, neither can we deduct grants to affiliated federations. They all need financial help to complete their programmes in their efforts to improve their standards,” he added.
It was here that the MOC president said that the decision on whether to take part in the international competitions will not be taken now. “We will postpone it until March, that is, until the closing date for nominations for the first event, the Small Nations Games. Till then, we hope some solution would be found so that our athletes, who would have gone through several sacrifices to get in shape, will not be disappointed.”
Concluding, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said that the Malta Olympic Committee will keep fighting for the principles it believes in. “It is true that the government had never promised us anything in previous years and still delivered the goods, mentioning 1997 and 1999 as previous examples. But under the present circumstances, we are not prepared to take part in the international competitions this year,” he said.