A veteran journalist and long-serving president of the Wrestling Federation
In 1967, SIMON BONELLO introduced the sport of wrestling in Malta after having read an interesting feature in an English sports magazine. Two years later, he founded the federation and today, 35 years later, he is still the president. Bonello, however, is not just a wrestling man. He also dedicates a lot of his spare time to writing sports articles, as he is also a sports journalist. In fact, his main sport is horse-racing. Here he tells his story to Henry Brincat
Simon Bonello – a profile
Born: 10 November 1932, in Floriana
Education: Montessori, Primary School and The Seminary.
Work career: After finishing school, he worked for one year with Muscat’s Garage of Gzira as a clerk. He then became a supervisor in the Government’s Public Works Department. In 1961 he passed an exam and became a Customs and Excise guard and it was for the Customs Department that he worked for most of his career, retiring in 1993 as Senior Officer, the head of the Customs Security Branch.
Sporting career: He is the long-serving president of the Malta Wrestling Federation. He introduced the sport to Malta in 1967, founded the federation two years later and is still its president today. In the 1970s he was also president of the Weightlifting Federation, the Bodybuilding Association and the Chess Federation. In fact, he is probably the most senior president among all presidents of local associations.
He was also an established wrestling referee as well as twice chairman of the National Sports Contests. In 1952, Bonello became a Minor (third division) champion of the Chess Federation. He also used to play cricket with the Floriana side, as well as table-tennis, where he was the Floriana champion in the mid-1950s. He was vice president of the Malta Olympic Committee for four years and, more recently, he was its Director of Youth.
Awards: On two distinct occasions, he was awarded the gold star by the International Wrestling Federation. On five occasions he was a finalist in the National Sports Contests – finishing third on three occasions, and in fourth and fifth place once.
Social career: Bonello has been president of the Vilhena Band Club in Floriana, and of Fsobians Sports Club, and he is still honorary president of both clubs. He was also the chairman of a committee set up by Floriana FC in 1990 to celebrate their 100th anniversary. At present he is the president of the Floriana Senior Citizens association and a few days ago was appointed to the post of moderator on the Pastoral Council.
Simon is married to Grace nee Abela from Gudja.
Simon Bonello is synonymous with wrestling and horse-racing.
He has been the Wrestling Federation’s president ever since its foundation 35 years ago and for over 20 years has covered horse-racing for The Times, Net TV and In-Nazzjon, as well as having a TV programme – Sulky – on the Sports Channel.
His early years – that is after school – saw him taking part in chess and table-tennis events, apart from playing cricket for his native Floriana side – a sport which was popular in those days with the presence of the British Services.
But how did he become attracted to the sport of wrestling, which had been non-existent on this island? He recalled: “In 1948, one of my friends, Joe Ellul, who was a student at the Lyceum, formed part of a group joining their teacher, Mr Burgess, to the Olympic Games in London.
“On their return, Ellul showed me a magazine which he had bought in London. It was full of pictures and editorial content, but what really caught my attention was a centre page feature entitled The Terrible Turk. This was the story of a successful Turkish wrestler, which I went through carefully. Time passed and I began buying books and reading a lot about wrestling, to help me build up more information about this interesting and exciting sport,” he said.
It was in 1967 that he eventually launched the sport in Malta and after just two years he managed to found the federation. He was obviously its first president – and still is today. “I believe I am the most senior president of all sports presidents on the island.”
During such a long career, Bonello has also been a referee, controlling bouts in Italy, England and Libya, apart from several in Malta.
In England, he also refereed the final of a Common Market championship held in Manchester in the late 1970s.
He has been chef de mission for the Malta team at several events and international tournaments. “We normally take part in five or six tournaments every year. For example, this year, if funds are available, we plan to take part in tournaments in Cyprus, Madrid, Naples, Belgium (juniors) and Malta, apart from the Mediterranean Games. The tournaments in Madrid and Naples will be big (A level) as we are obliged to take part in such events by the MOC to assess our athletes’ levels in view of the forthcoming Mediterranean Games in Almeira, Spain,” he said.
Asked to name a memorable moment in his career, Bonello quickly referred to a tournament in Reggio Calabria which a Maltese team had won. “Before the event, I promised the team champagne if they finished second. Afterwards, when they had won, we went together to celebrate with a good meal in a restaurant. At one point, one of the players said to me: don’t forget you promised us champagne if we came second. I quickly called a waiter and ordered champagne, not just for the Maltese group, but for everyone in the restaurant at that moment. Little did the rest of the patrons know what all the fuss was about, but we were very happy with our victory,” he said.
He mentioned successes at tournaments in Catania and Palermo among other memorable moments, as well as the day Jesmond Giordemaina finished 12 out of 36 competitors in the Los Angeles Olympics. “Giordemaina, now the national coach, had also figured prominently in the Commonwealth Games. He had come fourth in Edinburgh, and had won a silver medal in Cyprus but then had the misfortune to be disqualified in the Malta event as he was found to be overweight,” said Bonello.
Asked to comment about Giordemaina, Bonello said: “He was our best wrestler ever. He has taken part in two Olympic Games, Mediterranean Games and Commonwealth Games. I was also a coach when he started wrestling at the tender age of 13, having transferred from judo. Giordemaina was so promising that two Bulgarian coaches told me he would have been a top class wrestler, had he been in the hands of a professional coach.
“He had several successes in his career and made the wrestling family proud by winning gold in the Trofeo Milone, beating a German champion in the final 15-0.
“At present we have another youngster, Jason Zammit, who incidentally is Jesmond’s nephew, who we think will be his heir to the Malta throne. Two years ago, he won the silver medal out of 12 competitors in a local international tournament and he shows a lot of promise,” said Bonello.
Another memorable moment was when he won the bid for Malta to organise the Commonwealth Championships in 1989. He managed this in 1987, during the Cyprus championships.
Were there any disappointing moments? I asked: “I must be honest and say these were rare, if there ever were any disappointing moments in my career. Except, perhaps, when we should have won and didn’t because of some controversial refereeing decisions.
“Of course, there were other moments which I think of as difficult, not disappointing. For example, for such a small association, it is always difficult to find funds to organise tournaments locally,” he said.
Simon feels he has twice been honoured by the international federation, when he was presented with the gold star awarded to presidents of federations who had been at the helm for 25 years.
“On the first occasion, I received the star after 20 years, as the International Federation made an exception. I travelled to Bologna, in Italy, to receive the award which made me so pleased,” he added.
Bonello feels that the Wrestling Federation is here to stay. “There is a sound basis and there are many youngsters among our clubs in Naxxar, the university, Stella Maris and Qawra. I am sure we will have more successes in the future,” he said.