The election of a new Director of Sports within the ranks of the Maltese Olympic Committee last week resulted in a landslide win for Mark Cutajar over the other contestant, Malta Cycling Association President John Zammit.

However, despite the 57-12 win for Cutajar, I feel I must congratulate and thank Zammit for accepting to be nominated to contest the election. It was simply exemplary of Zammit offering his services in such a responsible post in the interest of Maltese sport, as many others, after all, do.

This chapter over, the Maltese Olympic Committee has now embarked on its main job in the next few weeks, that is, the selection of athletes who will eventually take part and represent Malta at the forthcoming Games for European Small States in Europe to be held in Cyprus between 1 and 6 June.

By 1 April, the MOC has to decide in which sport disciplines it will be taking part while the final list of participating athletes has to be forwarded to the Organising Committee by early May. The MOC has already gone on record as saying that there are some, especially in team sports, whose participation is still in doubt.

We already know of some athletes who have managed to obtain the Minimum Qualifying Standards set well before the departure of former Sports Director Pippo Psaila. And Cutajar, in my opinion, did well to keep the same MQSs for qualification purposes, even if it is known that in some cases, at least, such standards will not be achieved by the athletes concerned.

It is also known that the MOC is finalising negotiations to bring over some ‘foreign’ Maltese athletes and there are high hopes that these will eventually strengthen our contingent considerably in the hope of achieving the target of fourth place.

It is reliably understood that Malta might have such athletes in table-tennis, basketball, shooting, swimming, beach volleyball, judo and athletics.

One of them is Kaila Agius, a Canadian basketball player of Maltese descent. Her credentials show that she is a top player and is so eager to represent Malta that she has signed for local club Rabat Depiro for the rest of the local season. Apart from Agius, there are four other girls with Maltese surnames, among them Josephine Grima, who are playing abroad. Also in basketball, but in the men’s sector, two foreign players – one from Serbia and another from France – are also eligible for selection as they have been in Malta for more than the three years requested.

Two others are Ryan Gambin and Madeleine Scerri, who have already proved their worth amongst us. I am told they have confirmed their participation and are training vigorously to obtain the best results possible.

Maltese Australian shooter Rebecca Madison and Olympic shooter Jeff Tonna, also from Australia, has also given a clear indication that he is available, even if he still has to come over to qualify.

In athletics, it is possible that a Maltese Australian runner will be brought over, but he will also have to come over to qualify.

In judo Malta will probably have a Russian who has been resident in Malta for several years, while the beach volley squad, if selected to take part, will possibly include a Maltese Australian among their ranks. In table-tennis, a Chinese player who has already represented Malta abroad and who has been coming to Malta quite regularly during the past three years, is also eligible while, apart from the locals Edward Baldacchino and Johanna Grech, there should be Simon Gerada or Andre Makowski as well as two Chinese girls, who are also eligible to represent Malta in these Games.

However there are also some disappointments. For example, basketball’s most promising youngster Sam Deguara of Italy’s Benetton, may not be available as he might be needed by his club during that period. And veteran athlete Carol Walsh has not yet confirmed her participation, despite her continuous training.

All efforts should be made to convince both Deguara (in this case Benetton) and Carol to take part. Both are needed by their country and it is unquestionable that their presence in the Maltese contingent will certainly be a source of motivation for the rest of the athletes.

In the case of Carol Walsh, if convinced to take part, she will solve the long distance problem – she would take part in the 10,000m - facing the athletics contingent as well as the MOC.

Once again I reiterate that the MOC is doing the right thing in trying to get over the best Maltese athletes available. So long as they can produce evidence that they are truly Maltese, or do not infringe the rules, they are all eligible and they have the right to represent the country. After all, this is not done here in Malta only. Even top countries like Italy, France, the Netherlands, Germany, not to mention scores of other countries make use of their ‘foreign’ based athletes in top notch competitions, even the Olympic Games. Also the other seven countries taking part in the Cyprus Games, all of whom now boast quite a number of such athletes, will certainly do the same. So why not Malta?

It is true that the regulations concerning the Games for European Small States have sometimes been twisted to accommodate certain ‘foreign’ athletes who do not have any evidence that they hail from one of the participating countries. For example, foreign players who have been resident in any one of the eight participating countries for at least three years, are also eligible to take part in these Games.

Yet, one must concede that the rule is applicable to all the eight countries, and not just one or two of them. And that, in my opinion, makes this rule fair, apart from of course, enabling the levels of the Games to improve considerably, as they did in the last eight editions, at least.

In the case of Malta, at least, I am sure these athletes, whoever they may be, are not taking the place of the locally-based athletes. Those who contend otherwise are only thinking like we did till about 10 years ago. But times have changed and thank God, we have also learned to copy others in the way success is reaped in such instances, of course, without infringing with the rules.

Moreover, I am also convinced that the presence of such athletes helps to motivate the locally-based athletes to such an extent that competition for a place in the national squads has increased considerably.

The pity here in Malta is that local sport is not well-attended by the local fans. Events are held in mostly empty venues and the athletes cannot really feel and experience what support should mean to them while on the field of play. The lack the experience of that extra player – in football we call it the 12th man – is certainly missing in most, if not all, our sports disciplines.

Today, one cannot say that the media does not give exposure to local sport. Although football remains high on the agenda of the local sports pages in our newspapers, as well as on radio and TV, it is also evident that the other disciplines are getting their fair amount of space, even if they still (and quite rightly) want more and more coverage.

In this respect, Cutajar has already appealed to the associations to collaborate with the media as much as possible so that sport is given a better deal in the future. As a former journalist himself, Cutajar also knows that the local media is faced by one big problem – lack of space. In fact, he has also urged all associations and federations to help the media by providing concise reports instead of sending unending stories which, more often than note, remain unread.

The Olympic Committee is not only working on the GSSE at present. It also has on its thoughts the Mediterranean Games in Pescara, Italy, and the Friendship Games in Trapani, Sicily, later in the year.

Of course, the Med Games will be of a much higher level and selection for these Games will obviously be made depending on the results achieved in the Cyprus Games. And it has already been announced that Gold medal winners in the GSSE will automatically earn their place in Maltese contingent for the Pescara Games. Fair enough.

Let us all hope that the forthcoming commitments will enable the Maltese Olympic Committee, especially the new Director of Sports, to start the quadrennial on a most positive note.

Henry Brincat

Sports Editor

[email protected]