By yesterday, no move had been heard of that might have brought the Maltese Council for Sport (KMS) and the Malta Olympic Committee (MOC) closer to solving the current impasse in local sport.

As everyone might be aware, the Malta Olympic Committee is saying that the Sports Law is breaching its autonomy as requested in the Olympic Charter. On the other hand, the Minister for Education, also responsible for Sport, Dr Louis Galea, said recently the KMS had always respected the autonomy of the MOC and he himself had guaranteed such autonomy.

It is known that neither side has made a move yet after the press conferences of about 10 days ago when both sides maintained their positions.

Neither side seems to be changing its position with the consequence that Malta’s participation in next summer’s Games for European Small States is getting more difficult. The MOC has, in fact, already advised the Andorra Organising Committee, that it was not yet in a position to send a contingent to the Games in the prevailing circumstances and has asked for the prolongation of the closing date to pay the deposit for such participation.

Meanwhile it is reliably understood that the matter has also moved rapidly abroad. In fact, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge is reported to be already informed of the local impasse between the two sports bodies, while the European Olympic Committee has already offered to intervene in an effort to try and find a solution as quickly as possible.

The MOC, so far, has preferred not to inform the two international bodies officially about the issue in the hope that agreement is reached as quickly as possible.

The Malta Olympic Committee President, Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, in a press conference a few days ago, had said that after the withdrawal from the Games for European Small States, the Mediterranean Games participation in Almeira, Spain, would be the next to be hit. He had announced that the closing date for applications for participation in these Games was 20 February. If no agreement was reached by then, the Malta Olympic Committee would have no option other than to inform the Organising Committee of the Games that Malta was withdrawing.

Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco had said that if the current situation prevails, there would be fears that Malta might be excluded from the world sports family until the impasse is resolved amicably to the satisfaction of the International Olympic Committee. “We will have to face the consequences if we fail to abide by the Olympic Charter and everyone is aware of what happened in some countries in the not too distant past,” he had said late last month.