The problem, or rather the controversy, which has arisen over the past few days between the Malta Olympic Committee and the Ministry for Education and the Maltese Council for Sport, was uncalled for.

At present it seems as if an impasse has been registered and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, though deep down in my heart, I am convinced that somehow or other, the problem will eventually be resolved – as was done in the past.

It is a burning question and at the moment, I feel I am not competent enough to make my comments on such an issue, especially when no agreement has been registered.

I do not want to write anything in favour or against anyone, but having heard all that both sides had to offer in the dispute, I simply have to say that I came to the conclusion that the two sides are not very far off, though, obviously they might opt to differ.

If I am not mistaken, the Malta Olympic Committee is pressing hard to remain an autonomous committee, therefore being responsible for running sport on these islands according to the Olympic Charter. This has been respected so far by the Maltese Council for Sport, but now even the Minister himself, Dr Louis Galea, went on to provide the MOC with a guarantee on such an issue. Despite that, the MOC insists that the Sports Law goes against the Olympic Charter and does not offer such a guarantee. In other words, the MOC will not be happy until the Sports Law is amended according to their beliefs.

On the other hand, the Maltese Council for Sport is insisting that it is provided with VAT and other fiscal receipts to cover the expenses of the federations and individuals who are given grants by the MOC which are forwarded to it by the Maltese Council for Sport. We all agree – even the MOC – that the government grants for sport are public funds. So far as I know, the MOC, through its president, Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, has accepted to provide these receipts whenever possible. He even went further as to state that those who did not provide such receipts or were found to be trying to evade tax would be liable to expulsion from the Olympic sporting family. The Maltese Council for Sport saw red when of the Lm70,000 granted by government, a sum of over Lm21,000 was not accounted for by the MOC.

This seems to be the crux of the problem, even though the MOC president assured us that the issue is over the fact that the MOC’s autonomy was being attacked.

At present, because of the dispute, I cannot say much more because I do not think it would be ethical.

But I think I would cause no harm in saying that the two sides should do their utmost to get back to a table where cordial discussions should lead to an agreement and hence, solving a problem which seems to be threatening not only Maltese athletes, but also others of different countries, especially if Malta was not to take part in the forthcoming Andorra Games for European Small Nations.

I am sure that two sides respect each other’s role in sport, that is, the Maltese Council for Sport is responsible for the financial aspect of sport on these islands – funding and running of facilities still in government hands – while the Malta Olympic committee is responsible for the technical side of sport, that is, the preparation of athletes representing the country in international and other competitions.

The two sides have also made some comments which have no link to sports as such. These were also uncalled for and should have never been made public. What was said about the Sports Law and by whom it was said, in my opinion, was certainly not in the interest of the public. But now that it has been said, it should be corrected immediately and deleted, if possible, from local sporting records.

We certainly cannot afford to inflate a problem which has come out of the blue!

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