Opening today at Mosta

The 54th Federation Internationale Sportive del'Enseignement Catholique (FISEC) Games get underway this morning when all participants gather for the opening ceremony which will be held at the Mosta church, starting at 9.30 a.m.

Following a successful organisation of the 1997 edition, the FISEC Council (Malta), under the chairmanship of Bro. Martin Borg, has left no stone unturned in its bid to provide another similar warm welcome.

More than a 1,000 athletes, hailing from Austria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, United States and Malta, will be figuring in the event.

The FISEC Games, which come to a close on Saturday, feature seven different sports. Malta will be represented in each discipline. The official competitions will kick off this afternoon when qualifying matches from basketball, futsal and volleyball are played.

Today will also mark the first official event since the new University Sports Complex was inaugurated. At 6 p.m. Spain A and Spain B cross swords in the first match from the handball competition.

In the 2001 edition in Hungary, the Maltese won 13 medals - one gold, two silver and ten bronze.

Maltese in action today

Basketball (men, Ta' Qali) 6 p.m. Malta vs Portugal
Basketball (women, St Aloysius) 8 p.m. Malta vs Belgium Flanders
Football: (Centenary Stadium) 7.45 p.m. Malta vs France
Futsal: (De La Salle) 4 p.m. Malta vs Italy
Handball: (University) 8 p.m. Malta vs Belgium
Tennis: (VLTC) 5 p.m. girls singles matches
Volleyball (men, De La Salle) 8 p.m. Malta vs Spain
Volleyball (women, Corradino) 6 p.m. Malta vs Spain B

Admission to all venues is free.

FISEC Games History

¤ Since 1947, FISEC has been organising international sports games each year. These unite the best athletes from Catholic schools in the age-group between 14 and 17.

¤ The FISEC Games include six individual sports and five team events.

¤ FISEC currently includes membership from 12 countries from within the EU besides Hungary, Malta, the US and Palestine.

¤ Since 1996, FISEC was recognised by the International Olympic Committee and has the status of 'recognised organisation'.

¤ FISEC was officially founded by Belgium, France and the UK in January 1948 in Brussels.

¤ In 1959 the first FISEC Games for girls were organised in Belgium. In 1980, the FISEC Games for boys and girls were joined into one sporting organisation and apart from Summer Games, Spring Games were also introduced.