Sliema Burger King are expected to sign Hungarian star Tibor Benedek as their foreign player for the coming summer league.

The ASA has re-opened the doors to foreigners to grace the pool at Tal-Qroqq after a long number of years. The move, in fact, is expected to rekindle interest in the game, especially in the summer, where waterpolo is considered as Malta’s No. 1 sport.

Benedek was a member of the Hungarian team that won the gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. In the final Benedek scored four of the goals for Hungary who sped to a one-sided 13-6 win over Russia.

Benedek would have missed those Olympics if a 15-month ban dating from August 1999 and imposed by the sport’s governing body FINA, had stood. But the world association overruled an eight-month suspension set by the Italian federation when the player tested positive for the anabolic steroid clostebol at a match involving his Italian club Roma. In January 2000, however, the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the suspension on appeal to eight months.

Four years later, in Athens, he helped his country retain the Olympic title as Hungary beat Serbia & Montenegro 8-7 in an electrifying final.

Benedek was born in Budapest on 12 July 1972. His first taste of success was the silver medal in the European Championships. That was followed by gold a year later in the same competition.

In 1995, he was a gold medal winner at the World Cup as well as a silver medallist at the European Championships.

In 1997, he was European champion and in 1998 he won the silver medal at the world championships.

The 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics Gold medals rank as his most memorable achievements. In 2002, he was in the Hungarian team which placed third in the world league.

Apart from these successes, Benedek has also played for Hungary in the 1996 and 2004 Olympic Games, albeit with no success.

He was also the Hungarian Player of the Year in 1992, 1993 and 1994. He made his debut for the national side in 1990.