The Malta Olympic Committee has issued a statement over the signature of its secretary general Joe Cassar, to clarify the situation over shooter William Chetcuti.

This came in the wake of recent media releases regarding a sponsorship agreement by a local company (GoMobile) with Chetcuti: the story appeared in The Malta Independent on Sunday (11-09-05).

In the MOC statement, Cassar said that the said athlete has a prevailing exclusive contract with the MOC which naturally prohibits him from entering into commercial agreements with third parties.

The MOC said it had voted over Lm7,000 for the preparation and participation of elite athlete William Chetcuti during the current year, and had also paid for his participation in the GSSE Andorra 2005 and the Mediterranean Games in Almeria.

It added that since 1994, the Malta Olympic Committee has invested over Lm200,000 in shooting.

Cassar added that the Malta Olympic Committee had, in July, inaugurated the ‘Outstanding Athlete Scheme’ for top elite athletes and to date the only athlete who qualified for this scheme was William Chetcuti.

In view of this, the Malta Olympic Committee paid for the trips to Brazil and to Lignano Sabbia d’Oro for Chetcuti’s travel, accommodation and participation as well as for his coach and Malta Shooting Federation official to accompany him.

According to the statement, the Malta Olympic Committee, out of its free will, also paid William Chetcuti cash bonuses after he returned from the Olympic Games in Athens and the Belgrade World Championships.

The Malta Olympic Committee said it is presently in the process of finalising an International Olympic Committee scholarship agreement for William Chetcuti which will see him benefiting from thousands of Maltese liri in support of his sporting career.

The statement also said that for Chetcuti and any other athlete to compete and represent Malta in the GSSE, Commonwealth Games, Mediterranean Games and, above all, the Olympic Games, it was necessary and obligatory that these are approved and accredited by the Malta Olympic Committee.