The Malta Olympic Committee and William Chetcuti yesterday signed a three-year contract which sees the young shooter as the first athlete to join the brand new Outstanding Athlete Scheme.

The president, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco, signed on behalf of the Malta Olympic Committee, adding that establishing this Outstanding Athlete Scheme was a new step in the MOC’s efforts to upgrade local sport.

The MOC president said this contract should lead the young shooter to success at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, that is, winning a medal, which will be the first ever by a Maltese athlete at any Olympics.

He added the MOC was convinced that Chetcuti will be successful.

“In my opinion, he just missed the silver medal at the Athens Olympics, despite his ninth overall placing. His performance there has led the MOC to evaluate the situation and we are now going to start identifying an athlete/s who can possibly achieve world class standards,” he said.

Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco also said that the fact that William had been selected from among the Shooting Federation does not mean that this is being done at the expense of other athletes. “The scheme will be open to all, but so far, only William Chetcuti, thanks to his consistent good results in top international competitions, has qualified. May we have more athletes qualifying to join the Scheme. Even though we do not have the financial means, we will do our best to get what we need to see them reaching their peaks,” he added.

The MOC is confident that with the support of the Shooting Federation and with the advice of his coach Jimmy Bugeja, Chetcuti will achieve the targets earmarked for him by the two bodies.

“He is still young, but he has enough talent already to guarantee success by the next three years,” said the MOC president.

He concluded by saying that the task was difficult, but by no means impossible.

Earlier, MOC Director of Sport Pippo Psaila said that a sum of about Lm120,000 would be needed over the three years to cover for expenses to be incurred by Chetcuti and his small team (coach and official) for participation in international tournaments abroad.

Psaila added that this sum would not include local expenses. “Chetcuti needs to train five times a week, shooting five rounds of 200 clays as a limit. And if he wants to reach the top, he has to follow other leading marksmen and take part in all World Cup and European Cup competitions,” said Psaila.

He added that this project was being named ‘Quest for Glory’ as the MOC was confident that William will be successful.

“I am sure that in three years, Chetcuti will be back from Beijing with a medal, but everyone must play his part to make him a first class athlete,” said Psaila.

The MOC Director of Sport also said that the committee will be working hard to try and raise the necessary funds.

“Although we do not yet have this amount of money, we are hopeful that through the help of the International Olympic Committee, Olympic Solidarity, the Government and Private Enterprises in Malta, we will be able to reach our goals for Chetcuti,” he said.

Psaila said the setting up of this Outstanding Athlete Scheme was one of the many promises kept by the MOC. “Today is a historic day for Maltese sport. Never before anything of the like had been afforded to an athlete. William has already become an exceptional sportsman and now he needs all the support he can get from all quarters to give the nation its biggest satisfaction in three years time,” he said.

Shooting Federation President Saviour Portelli said he was satisfied with the contract signed with the MOC, adding that it was something they had asked for after William was back from Athens last year.

“We are all on the right track to reap the desired fruit in Beijing,” he said.

Portelli also augured that Chetcuti will get another positive result in 15 days’ time when he takes part in a World Cup final for the first time ever.

“It is already a big success for our young shooter to have qualified among the world’s top 12 in the discipline.

“We just hope that he remains in his present good form to be able to obtain a positive result,” he said.

In the past few months, Chetcuti took part in the ISSF World Cup in Brazil where he placed seventh out of 39 competitors. In September, he took part in the second European Grand Prix for Juniors in Sabbia d’Oro, Italy, where he won the Gold medal.

He now takes part in the Dubai World Cup finals starting on 24 November.