Less athletes to benefit from schemes

After the record-breaking performances in last year's GSSE, many had anticipated that the success achieved would inevitably push the authorities to invest even more in a bid to improve the standard of our sport.

The reality produced a different scenario though.

Yesterday, it was an-nounced that government had allocated the Malta Olympic Committee the second lowest budget ever, Lm110,000. That was a hard blow for the MOC who had to revise its plans of funding athletes through its schemes.

Before, Director of Sport David Azzopardi said, the MOC was projecting to support 45 athletes through its various incentives. Now, that number has dwindled to 23.

"This was a huge setback for our plans," Azzopardi said.

"We firmly believed that the GSSE success last year would attract greater support and more investment in sport. Apparently, this was not the case.

"Since 1993, the MOC did well to prepare its athletes wisely. The goal was to gradually move towards semi- or even professionalism. Now, this low budget makes that a distant dream."

Compared to other countries, Malta is lagging behind in terms of sports funds.

"Other GSSE nations, like Iceland, Cyprus and Luxembourg, get much more to rely on. Our budget is only a fraction of what they get," Azzopardi said.

The list of athletes in the MOC schemes was announced by Marie Therese Zammit, Director for Elite Athletes Programme and Athens chef-de-mission. Ten, including Athens hopeful William Chetcuti, the Double Trap shooter, were included in the Elite scheme, which will receive two bonus payments in June and December.

There are five athletes in the Aspirant scheme and eight in the Junior.

President Lino Farrugia Sacco said despite a cut in funds the MOC will still fork out some Lm190,000 to 39 member federations.

Asked how the MOC would provide this sum which is much higher than the funds allocated by the government, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said they will be using the money received from the IOC and EOC.

He said the main focus this year will be the Olympics in Athens. Malta is likely to be represented by six athletes.

Tanya Blake and Chetcuti are already confirmed in the group.

The other slots could be allocated to swimming, athletics, sailing, table-tennis, judo and wrestling. A decision will be made in the coming months.

Athens gold medal worth Lm25,000 bonus

To further motivate Maltese athletes in Athens, the MOC decided to offer the following bonuses in case of good results: 8th place - Lm1,000, 7th - Lm2,000, 6th - Lm3,000; 5th - Lm4,000; 4th - Lm5,000; 3rd - Lm10,000, 2nd - Lm15,000, 1st - Lm25,000.

"We know the standard at the Olympics is very high. However, we are confident that those selected could really do well on their day," Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said.

"Our objective has always been to see our athletes flourishing even though the task facing them in Athens will be difficult.

"However, despite our limited resources we still hope to hand out some of these bonuses after the Games."

Selected list

Elite - T. Blake, R. Chouhal, D. Gilford (athletics); M. Bezzina (judo); W. Chetcuti, F. Pace, P. Vella (shooting); M. Aquilina (sailing); A. Galea (swimming), S. Gerada (table tennis).

Aspirant - C. Pace, N. Portelli, R. Camilleri (athletics); E. Grima (shooting); J. Schiavone (cycling).

Juniors - Z. Borg, C. Podesta, J. Rossi, M. Fleri Soler, B. Borg, K. Cremona (sailing); M. Asciak (tennis); R. Muscat (cycling).