The past year was a remarkable year for Maltese sport with excellent results obtained by some sportsmen and women.

Parliamentary secretary Clyde Puli mentioned William Chetcuti’s winning of a World Cup competition, the excellent results of local athletes at the Liechtenstein Games for European Small States, Aaron Ciantar’s winning of a world championship in the powerboat scene as well as the very good results achieved at the Special Olympics. Other good results were obtained by the National Under 21 Pool team, Bodybuilding, through Ralph Decelis and Blanche Coppola, Sue Abela in Bowling and the crew of the boat Artie at the Middle Sea Race. “All these have made our islands very proud,” he remarked.

Puli said, however, that it was not just these achievements which had made the year remarkable.

Outlining what had been done by his Parliamentary Secretariat during the past year, he said that it was also partly through government’s investment in sport that such results could be achieved, mentioning among the big projects undertaken the Kirkop Sports Complex in which around €3.5 million had been invested, as well as the inauguration of 33 synthetic football grounds around the island and in Gozo, the leasing of 16 pieces of land to sports entities, assistance to sport to the tune of €5.5 million and the launching of the project “Protection of children in sport.”

Other projects undertaken last year were the Sport Promotion Unit which has proved to be very successful and popular. “We have seen the programmes of the Kunsill Malti ghall-Isport (KMS) being made use of by more than 7,500 persons, we have launched a new unit in the Armed Forces for possible persons to become national team athletes in various disciplines. We also extended the popular 20/20 scheme to the private sector and about 1,000 sports persons have benefited from Special Leave to be able to take part in international competitions here in Malta,” he added.

He went on to say that the government was also planning for the future by launching the Anti-Doping Agency, for which a hefty sum of around 300,000 euros has been voted. The Parliamentary Secretary said that this was, however, in its infancy stage and there will be further studies to see what could be better for local athletes and associations in the long term.

Among other things, he said the government wanted to expand the niche for Sports Tourism, investing a sum of €350,000, more than three times the amount invested two years ago. In this sense a sum of €50,000 was also voted to be spent in Gozo.

Puli stated that the School of Sport will open in September. “This school will be special in the sense that it will cater for students who are good in sport, even if they do not have certain academic levels. Its aim will be to see our children excelling in sport,” he added.

He went on to say that the government would continue to invest money not only in the School of Sport, but also on a Youth Development Scheme, assistance to the Maltese Olympic Committee and sports scholarships to some top athletes.

The PS also said government wanted to expand the sporting culture in society. “To do so, we need to strengthen the KMS and make it a regulatory Authority. There should be plans for sporting programmes for all, more attention given to national athletes, more investment in sporting facilities as well as the strengthening of the relations between sport and economic activity,” he said.

Puli said that his Secretariat was planning to have more sporting programmes for more persons to participate in with these being located in various localities in schools and homes for the elderly.

Schools are being used for several programmes before, during and after school hours. “There are activities at nine colleges with a population of around 28,000 students. These often take part in festivals and tournaments as well as other activities.

“This year we are also planning to see a project started two years ago, being turned onto a national scale. This is the project whereby elderly persons could involve themselves in physical activity,” he stated.

Speaking on the existing sports facilities, Puli said the Cottonera Sports Complex as well as the new complex at Kirkop and the Swimming Pool complex at Tal-Qroqq had been given attention throughout. “It is very expensive to run such complexes but we are determined to invest more money in this sphere to see our athletes improving. At Tal-Qroqq, we intend to expand the Fitness Centre which has become very popular, while two other squash courts are planned close to the existing two. We will once again have some associations organising their competitions at these venues as well,” he added.

Mentioning the Ta’ Qali national park, Puli said it had been an outstanding success. “So much, that we now plan to open others in Mellieha, Attard and Qormi. Moreover, we have opened the schools’ facilities for use by the public in the evenings, if not by some associations as well,” he said.

Puli also spoke about a facility for the Malta Basketball Association with an investment of around €800,000 as well as the refurbishment of some bocci pitches and the proposed motorsports track, revealing that negotiations are ongoing and close to be finalised.

He also said that he felt local associations needed the help of the private sector to run their facilities successfully. “I am afraid they will not be able to find the necessary funds for the maintenance of these facilities in future, unless some form of agreement is reached with the private sector.

“The proposed Marsa Sports Village and the White Rocks Complex – worth big millions of euros – are still in the negotiations’ stage. In such projects, the government wants to see that they will be sustainable and therefore we have to look at the interests of the country before decisions are taken,” he added.

He also said government had helped sports associations directly through 26 schemes from which they benefited over one million euros in assistance.

He also appealed to those offering sponsorships to sports associations or athletes to make use of government’s offer of reducing tax on the sponsorship amount to the tune of 25 per cent.

He maintained that it had become necessary for all associations to work hand in hand with the private sector, if there are entities who wish to invest in sport.