The Maltese Olympic Committee yesterday named a ‘small’ contingent of 61 athletes who will be representing Malta at the forthcoming Games for European Small States in Luxembourg between 26 May and 2 June.

However, there will be at least four athletes who have to be dropped as the basketball squad has to be trimmed to 12 from the current 16. And there are others who might also have to drop out, though no names were mentioned.

This is certainly one of the smallest contingents – if not the smallest - ever to take part in such Games.

It is mainly due to the fact that the election of the MOC’s new administration came too close to these Games. And as new MOC president Julian Pace Bonello explained: “The associations and federations could not plan beforehand as they did not know what their financial allowance would be. Moreover, there was also the General Election which left its mark. In fact, some of the contracts with the federations are still in the process of being signed,” he added.

Pace Bonello also lamented the fact that Malta will be missing several gold and silver medals due to the fact that Squash and Double Trap shooting are not included in this edition. “Four years ago in Liechtenstein, our squash teams had dominated that discipline while in Double Trap Shooting, Malta was also a dominant force,” he added.

The new MOC president went on to say that his main aim at present was not just the Games for European Small States. “I am working hard to see the MOC getting a better image after what happened in the past few months. We must also see that our relationship with the Maltese Council for Sport improves – we have to work hand in hand in the interest of sport in general,” he reiterated.

Pace Bonello also revealed that he wanted to implement a long-term policy vis-à-vis the funding of the federations. “We have to start planning for the future of sport on these islands with a view to get better results. I am insisting on setting up commissions because I feel that a director should not be working alone in his/her field,” he said.

Pace Bonello went on to name the MOC directors who were elected recently – Dr L. Attard, Dr S. Mercieca, P. Sultana, D. Buhagiar, C. Camenzuli, V. Scicluna, J. Vella, M. Micallef, E. Galea and I. Balzan, the latter taking up the difficult role of Director of Sport. The MOC president and his deputy, Mark Cutajar, will be the MOC delegates in dealing with the relations with the government. Joe Cassar has retained his post as secretary general, as did David Azzopardi, who is again the treasurer.

Another speaker yesterday was former Director of Sport, now Deputy President Mark Cutajar. He congratulated all the directors, especially the newcomers, and also thanked former president Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco for his contribution towards the improvement of sport during his terms of office.

Cutajar spoke about the difficulties facing the MOC before the Luxembourg Games, adding that the relations with the Council of Sport (KMS) and the signing of the contracts proved to be huge obstacles.

He added that the MOC’s agenda now must be that of working hand in hand with the KMS. “In this sense, we have a meeting with the Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Dr Stefan Buontempo, tomorrow . We hope it will be a fruitful meeting – a positive start to our plans for a four-year programme.

“If we are to improve, we have to look ahead from now towards the Brazil Olympics in three years time, as well as other future top notch competitions. Otherwise we stand to remain where we are,” added Cutajar.

He also sympathised with new Director of Sport Ivan Balzan, who has stepped into his role just a few days ago.  “His is not an easy job. But I had to given him a handover, even if that had to come a few weeks before the Games,” he said.

Cutajar also revealed that an agreement with the KMS had not yet been signed, but they expected it to be finalised in the next few days.

The MOC says that there will be more or less the same usual sum given to it by the government until last year, but there should be an extra €120,000 because it is the year when the GSSE are held.

Cutajar went on to say that the MOC would like to see whether Double Trap shooting was dropped because of Malta’s dominance. “They almost dropped female basketball as well – they are aware of our strength in that field as well. But when we told them that we ‘threatened’ that we would only take part in the Games with a token contingent, they accepted to retain the discipline. It is simply not fair to invest thousands of euros on athletes and then you are told that those disciplines had been removed from the list of sports to be contested,” he remarked.

When asked what were the prospects for the Maltese athletes this time round, Cutajar said: “We must forget about our Liechtenstein performance two years ago. There will certainly be no comparison this time. We do not have a big contingent, but we have some quality athletes included.

“Kevin Arthur Moore is one of them. He excelled in Liechtenstein and we have asked him to select to continue running for Malta even in future, rather than Australia. At present he is already here and he took part in the national championships at the weekend. We all know that he is a 47 second runner for the 400 metres. His intention seems to be clear – he wants to continue running for Malta. And we are certainly working in that direction.

Cutajar also said that the contingent will be missing Charlene Attard, apart from the squash and Double Trap athletes. He also revealed that there are some doubts about the total fitness of star athlete Diane Borg who lost the 100m to Rebecca Camilleri in the national championships.

Director of Sport Ivan Balzan said he was still new in his role, but had been given a good helping hand by Cutajar, the former occupant of the post.

“We have worked hard together and we have seen athletes working hard to get their Minimum Qualifying Standards (MQSs). Some did not for a fraction, but there were others who were being pushed by their federations to be included in the contingent, though at their own (federation’s) responsibility.

“We are certain there will be some good results. If we keep focused on the Games, we can cut a better figure than we might expect. Athletes must regard these Games as the stepping stone for much more important competitions like the Commonwealth and Mediterranean Games, not to mention the Olympics,” he said.

Balzan added: “This is a big challenge for me, but I’m looking forward to some positive performances from our athletes,” he concluded.

Vince Scicluna will be the Chef de Mission at the Luxembourg Games.

The contingent

Athletics

Kevin Arthur Moore, Andy Grech, Rebecca Camilleri, Giselle Camilleri, Francesca Borg, Diane Borg, Rashid Chouhal, Rebecca Sare, Robyn Zammit, Luke Bezzina, Neil Brimmer, Steve Camilleri, Matthew Croker, Nicole Gatt, Janet Richard and Lara Scerri.

Basketball

Brietta Thomas, Antoinette Borg, Samantha Brincat, Rebecca Brincat Thoresen,  Joselle Pia Cardona, Elena Cassar, Christina Grima, Josephine Grima, Chantelle Mifsud, Sarah Pace, Leanne Sciberras, Amanda Sciortino, Ashleigh Vella, Bever Lee Zammit, Greta Zarb and Stephie De Martino.

Beach Volleyball

Gertrude Zarb and Alison Borg.

Cycling

Etienne Bonello.

Gymnastics

Suzanne Buttigieg, Kirsty Caruana, Peppijna Dalli and Adreana Zammit.

Judo: Isaac Bezzina, Murman Korchilova, Jeremy Saywell, Joanna Camilleri, Marcon Bezzina and Vanessa Frazier.

Shooting

Trap: Brian Galea and Jeffrey Pisani.

Indoor rifle/pistol: Eleanor Bezzina, Alison Vella and Marianna Kisvardai.

Swimming

Andrew Chetcuti and Matthew Zammit.

Table-Tennis

Simon Gerada, Daniel Bajada, Peng Fei Lu, Lucenkova Viktoria and Jessica Pace

Tennis

Matthew Asciak, Matija Pecotic, Rosanne Dimech and Elaine Genovese.