Maltese Olympic Committee president Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco yesterday attended the General Assembly of the Games for European Small States Federation.

In a meeting with the Maltese press, which was also attended by Parliamentary Secretary for Sport Clyde Puli, the chairman of the Maltese Council for Sport, Bernard Vassallo, Mark Cutajar, Chef de Mission, and other MOC officials, Farrugia Sacco explained what had been discussed.

He said the future of the Games was among the main items discussed and, among other things, he said he again had laid the emphasis on the participation of foreigners at these Games. Farrugia Sacco said: “I reiterated that the number has to be reduced drastically because I believe that such a strong presence is undermining the chance of young locally-bred athletes to develop and make something out of their career in sports.”

Farrugia Sacco also made a reference to what he had said last week, that these Games were, slowly but surely, losing their purpose. “We used to consider them as a stepping stone for young athletes’ future. Yet, this is not exactly the case today. We also wish to maintain our stance as a Group of Solidarity aimed at helping each other in all sectors,” he added.

No decision was taken at yesterday’s meeting. He said: “I insisted on a quota of 10 per cent in the case of foreigners, but all participants said they needed more time to consider the proposal.”

The MOC president also revealed that a proposal for the inclusion of Rugby 7s as from the next Games in Luxembourg was, quite rightly, turned down. “It might still be premature, and moreover, such a decision would have made the Games even more expensive,” he said.

Parliamentary Secretary Puli attended the meeting for Ministers of the Games’ participating nations which was held yesterday morning.

He said there was unanimous agreement on a proposal that these Games should enter a third cycle starting from San Marino in 2017.

He said these Games had served to help athletes develop, improve their standards and also to increase the number of facilities and the improvement of others.

Puli’s main concern was also the eligibility of foreigners for these Games. He said he believed that the number should be restricted to just a few. “Such large numbers are defeating the Games’ scope as proposed by Malta through Bertie Muscat in the early 1980s,” he said.

He added that these Games should help to improve relations in the political, cultural and sporting fields between the small countries.

He said he also proposed the staging of Games for Youths by these Small Countries so as to give the youngsters more exposure and a chance to gain more experience in the sports field.

He augured success to the athletes, the officials and the MOC, adding: “Results were important, but after all, we know everyone had done one’s best to emerge with heads held high.”

Bernard Vassallo, KMS chairman, Mark Cutajar, MOC Director of Sport and Joe Cassar, MOC secretary general, also addressed the conference briefly.