Our fate is in our own hands says ambitious Arrigo

This is indeed a very hectic period for our country. After the hype surrounding the EU referendum and the Local Council elections, we are now gearing up for a general election that will be held on April 12.

And how many times have we read that in sports, particularly football, title and relegation issues are decided in spring. But what is the connection between politics and sports? The answer... Robert Arrigo.

Arrigo, the tourism magnate, has been at the centre of attention on virtually all fronts in the last few weeks. Serving as Sliema mayor since 1994, Arrigo obtained a staggering 3,235 first-count votes in the March 8 Local Council elections.

The day Arrigo's total number of votes made headlines, Sliema Wanderers, the football club he has so faithfully served for the past seven years, cruised to a 3-1 victory over Valletta to move five points clear of Birkirkara at the top of the Premier League.

Things could not have been rosier for Arrigo who invested thousands of liri to build a strong squad in his bid to steer the Wanderers to the summit of Maltese football, a position they last occupied in season 1995-96.

Come Saturday, March 15, Sliema defeated title pursuers Birkirkara 3-2 to widen the gap to eight points with only five matches remaining before the end of the campaign.

"This is the first time in several years that we are in such a strong position to win the league," Arrigo told The Times. "Our fate is in our own hands but we must make sure that we stay focused and continue to deliver the goods as we have been doing throughout the season.

"We only lost two games so far this season and that's definitely a good sign. It shows that we deserve to be on top," Arrigo added.

The general view after Sliema's 3-2 defeat of Birkirkara was that the result was an unfair reflection of the run of play as it was the latter who held the initiative for long stretches.

Arrigo acknowledges this but maintained that his team also had several chances to seal the issue.

"We had our moments. After going 2-0 ahead, the obvious reaction was to switch to a more cautious approach, something we did. Even after Birkirkara scored the first goal, we had one or two chances to restore our two-goal lead.

"It was an open and entertaining game which provided a good advert for Maltese football," Arrigo said.

"I must also point out that there were a number of occasions in the past when Sliema lost to Birkirkara in the same manner as we defeated them on Saturday. Joe Brincat also scored crucial goals against us when he was with Birkirkara but this time, the roles were reversed," Arrigo said.

Sliema have come a long way since Arrigo took over from George Bonello DuPuis in January 1996. That season, Sliema won the title and went on to establish themselves as one of the major forces in Maltese football.

"Sliema have been runners-up on many occasions in the last six seasons. Suffice to say that in the last three, we have finished second to three different clubs.

"Before I assumed the reins of the club, Sliema were a mid-table side, rarely considered among the main contenders for the title. They were living in the shadows of the other big clubs here, a situation I was not particularly happy with.

"My goal was to transform Sliema into a team that challenges for honours consistently and our performances in the last seven years show that, to a large extent, we have fulfiled that objective," Arrigo said.

"Despite not winning the league since 1996, Sliema have still managed to collect some silverware. In fact, I believe that we have now overtaken Floriana as the club with the highest total of honours in Maltese football."

For all their relative success in other competitions, Sliema failed to win the Premier League, the prize they cherish most, but the indications are that their long wait is about to come to an end in May.

"The championship has always been our chief goal and the fact that we finished runners-up in all of the last three seasons, proves that the team tried hard but our effort was not good enough. This season, we have built a good and balanced squad to mount another challenge for the title and our top position vindicates our efforts."

Arrigo, who was president of Gzira United when they won the Division Two championship, says it was always a dream of his to be involved with Sliema.

"I played for the Sliema Young Boys with a fair degree of success. Even during my college days at St Aloysius, I was keen on football and my wish was to take up an administrative role with the Sliema club."

The Sliema president claims that he has fulfilled his ambitions, especially now that he has received the go-ahead to contest the April 12 elections as a PN candidate for the 10th district.

"I have fulfilled all my ambitions. I am a fourth generation politician because my great grandfather, my grandfather and father were also involved in politics. It was always my intention to keep that family tradition going," Arrigo remarked.

Faced with the question whether a parliamentary seat would bring his long association with the Wanderers to a close, Arrigo said: "First and foremost, one must not lose sight of the fact that this will be my first time as a candidate for a general election. One has to see the outcome before making any decisions. As the old saying goes, we will cross the bridge when we come to it."

Arrigo's forte lies in his ability to combine his business nous with passion for football and politics. Sliema have benefited from his management skills but the overall picture with regards to Maltese football is not that encouraging what with most of the clubs struggling to make ends meet.

The tarnished image of the national game is not luring potential sponsors to inject some much-needed investment in Maltese clubs.

"If Maltese football is to improve, it has to undergo a total restructuring process. We have to emulate what Cyprus and Turkey did some 15 years ago. I know it is a tall order but nothing is impossible," Arrigo said.

On a personal level, Arrigo has attained most, if not all, of the objectives he set out to achieve. A second league for Sliema would be another feather in his cap but the hunger for success shows no signs of diminishing.

"Given that the team maintains its title march, our sights would then turn to the European Champions Cup. Sliema Wanderers cleared the first round of the UEFA Cup in 1996 when we beat Margveti of Georgia 4-3 on aggregate. If we win the league, we will then strive to go past the first qualifying round of the Champions Cup," Arrigo said.