The Malta Olympic Committee’s naming of the contingent for the forthcoming Games for the European Small Nations in Andorra has set the ball rolling.

We have all been aware that the athletes, even those who have not been selected, went through a lot of hard times and sacrifices to try and reach the Minimum Qualifying Standards and become eligible for participation.

It all started soon after the start of the year when it was announced that a dispute had been registered between the Malta Olympic Committee and the Maltese Council for Sport. It dragged on for quite a few weeks before finally an agreement was reached to the satisfaction of both parties.

Until that agreement was signed, the local athletes did not know what was their future with regards to these Games. Yet, they continued training and those who have been selected may have been rewarded for their efforts – 57 of them – who will be forming part of Malta’s smallest contingent in recent years at these Games.

But despite being a small contingent, one cannot say that it should be inferior to previous contingents such as that presented for the Malta Games two years ago.

Among those selected, not to say the vast majority, there are athletes who, I am sure, will be capable of not only performing well and break national records, but will also finish on the podium although no one, at this stage, will be able to say what colour the medals to be won will be.

As the Chef de Mission, Pippo Psaila said in making last Wednesday’s announcement, it is imperative for Malta to keep the recent trend in medal winning. I also agree with him when he added that these Games cannot be, in any way, compared to those held in Malta two years ago.

This time, we cannot win any medals in squash and sailing where we registered a good haul as those two disciplines were congenial for our characteristics. Of course, and after all as was expected, the Andorra organisers have selected those disciplines which will more or less favour their athletes. In this sense, we do not even have at least one athlete in Mountain Biking and a representation in the Beach Volley event, while we have just one competitor in Taekwondo which is a new sport to these Games, since they were introduced in 1985.

One must also agree with what the MOC president, Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, had to say about the selection of athletes. Of course, it was a very difficult decision to select such a list, especially when having to leave out a number of athletes, among them the volleyball men’s and women’s teams.

I am sure that the MOC had established certain criteria towards the selection for the team events, as it did for the individuals. These were probably not met by the volleyball fraternity, who had registered some disappointing results in an international tournament at Easter time.

These athletes, as well as all the others who have not been selected, were obviously disappointed, but it is not the end of the world. In most cases they are all still young and they can still make it to the top in the not too distant future. In this sense, their disappointment should turn into a sort of motivation – to try and get better results and give the perfect answer to their critics.

Before concluding, I cannot but congratulate our young and brilliant double trap shooter William Chetcuti who has given himself and Maltese sport in general another big boost during the past week when he won a gold medal in an international junior competition in Suhl, Germany. His score of 180 from 200, which was even better than that registered by the winner in the seniors competition, is proof, if there was any need, that William is on his way to stardom in the future.

I would also like to congratulate all those who will be travelling to Andorra to represent the country. They have a responsibility to perform over there. They will not be just after a good performance and perhaps a medal. They will also be serving as Malta’s ambassadors in sport.

From this column, I wish them all the best of luck. May they all reap the fruit of their sacrifices.

UEFA and Mourinho

The battle of words and arguments between Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho and Europe’s football body, UEFA, seems to be continuing without a pause.

Now UEFA has been angered again by Mourinho’s comments who said that it was the assistant referee who scored Liverpool’s goal in their Champions league

1-0 victory over his club at Anfield.

Of course, Mourinho was bitterly disappointed at his club’s elimination. He again confirmed that he is a person not liked by many in the football world, but on this occasion, I feel I must sympathise with him, his players and the club.

I think UEFA have gone too far now. In the case of Anders Frisk, after the game in Barcelona, I think UEFA were right in disciplining the Portuguese coach, but this time, I felt he had every right to criticise a person who awarded a ‘phantom goal’ which meant the end of his club’s European dream. Let us not forget that what Mourinho talked about was seen by millions on TV this time and not inside the tunnel or in the dressing room, where just a few have an access.

Chelsea had not just been eliminated from the Champions League, but also lost a good financial bonus for appearing in the final, if not more by winning the competition.

Yet, what I cannot understand is why UEFA continues to defend referees and their assistants with all its might, even when, at least this time, everyone could see on the TV screen that there were serious doubts about that goal award.

In my opinion, if UEFA felt it had to be angry with Mourinho, it should have also been angered by the assistant referee’s decision. In my humble opinion, such decisions also bring the game into disrepute.

In any case, it was another incident which confirmed the need of a quick remedy to make sure such decisions taken by the officials are the correct ones. The need of technology in the game has already been written and spoken about. The quicker the action the better.

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