The Monaco Games for European Small States are over and it is now time to take up stock of the situation which has presented itself following this edition.

This time, it seems as if we have made a few steps back as we missed out on some gold medals which had been won in Andorra.

Let me make it clear. I have always maintained that despite all the predictions that had been made before the Games by the MOC Chef de Mission and the Director of Sport Pippo Psaila, no one ever had any guarantee that such a result would materialise.

Throughout the years, in sport, I have witnessed close matches in all kinds of sport which could have gone one way or another. At the end, there is only one winner and the other is a loser.

At these Monaco Games, we must admit that the Maltese were the losers, but had all those close shaves turned in our favour, then I believe the final outcome would have certainly been close to the Andorra result.

I have seen our athletes in action and only in a few cases can I say that I was not totally convinced about their performance although I also have to concede that a player or an athlete can unfortunately go off form, even in such competitions.

Yet, on the whole, the athletes only deserve praise for their efforts. I saw the young gymnasts giving their heart out despite this being their first experience, I liked the attitude of the sailors who showed great frustration because the lack of wind cancelled their last race. Although they were leading the Laser and Optimist Classes, both Benji Borg and Sean Borg wanted the sailing programme to go ahead and not just rest on their laurels at that particular moment, that is at the end of the sixth race.

I have also seen our swimmers, judokas, tennis and bowls players giving their all in the name of the country, as did the athletes on the Stade Louis II track. And I also saw the table-tennis squad being unlucky though also careless on some occasions.

I feel proud of them all. I know what they have gone through to get the Minimum Qualifying Standards in the past few months.

Let us all not forget that some of them even sacrificed their studies to be able to represent their country at these Games.

Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said yesterday that some things must be corrected with reference to future Games. And one of these should be to try and convince the Education authorities to reach an agreement which would enable athletes not to miss their chance of sitting for their exams.

The Chef de Mission said yesterday that the overall performance at these Games was satisfactory - neither bad nor good. I agree with him even if I was also disappointed at the fact that our gold medals number has diminished.

Psaila’s statement yesterday that he needs a rest might lead to a future decision over his post at the Maltese Olympic Committee. It is true that he has been overworked and he obviously needs a rest. But I would appeal to him to take a possible decision about his future later, after he gets his rest.

I know that Psaila is also contesting the post of MFA vice-president next month. Maybe he will wait till then before making a decision about his future at the MOC, but until things are clear, let us all thank him for the 14 years he has dedicated to Maltese sport in general. We must all agree that he was instrumental in the general overhaul we have noticed during this 14-year period.

At present, it is evident that Maltese sport still needs Pippo Psaila.