MOC leadership committed to extending cycle of success

Maltese sport has come a long way over the past four years as evidenced by the positive results achieved by local athletes in international competitions.

The record 44-medal haul in the 2003 Malta GSSE, William Chetcuti's shooting bronze medal in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and his ninth placing in last summer's Athens Olympics pay testament to the Malta Olympic Committee's (MOC) unstinted efforts in the last four years.

The newly-formed Executive Board of the governing body of Maltese sport, comprising some old faces and other new ones following the elections held during the Quadrennial General Meeting at the St Aloysius College, have their sights set on continuing this cycle of success.

They have also pledged to introduce new initiatives and schemes aimed at leading Maltese athletes to even bigger achievements in the international arena with the ambitious target of a medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics topping the MOC's agenda.

During Wednesday's meeting, MOC president Lino Farrugia Sacco, vice-president Julian Pace Bonello and secretary Joe Cassar won a second four-year term in office as they were uncontested.

Pippo Psaila's much-publicised return as Director of Sport was confirmed while David Azzopardi won a ballot with Anthony Chircop for the post of Director of Finance.

The officials of the 35 associations also voted for the eight seats on the Executive Board. For the first time since the MOC was founded 75 years ago, there are three women on the board - Dr Lucienne Attard, Laurie Pace and Marie-Therese Zammit. The remaining five positions on the board have been filled by Anthony Chircop, Kirill Micallef Stafrace, Envic Galea, Vincent Scicluna and Antonio Mizzi.

"I am really satisfied about the members of the MOC who were elected on Wednesday," Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco told a news conference yesterday at the MOC premises inside the National Pool Complex.

"During the past few years, they have shown to possess the required experience to help Maltese sport move forward. A series of excellent results has been achieved by our athletes in these last years and, as MOC, we are committed to ensuring that this positive trend continues for many years to come.

"The new committee features several new faces and that goes a long way to proving that our doors are open to anybody who has Maltese sport at heart."

Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco also touched on the MOC's financial commitment to the development of local sport, claiming that thousands of Maltese Liri have been spent to aid the preparation of athletes for several international competitions.

The MOC's expenditure between 2001 and 2004 is estimated at Lm1.6 million with Lm690,000 of this amount being government grants.

"Still, we feel that this budget is not enough," the MOC president said.

"The government's financial support has increased consistently during the past decade but if we are to reach higher levels, more funds must be made available in order to ensure that our athletes benefit from an ideal preparation to international events. This is not the sole responsibility of the government but we must push for a joint-effort from all entities in Malta who have a keen interest in sport."

Chircop, the Malta Amateur Athletics Association president, shared the same vision of Farrugia Sacco.

"It's clear that the financial assistance associations receive every year from the government and the MOC is not sufficient," Chircop remarked.

"The government's budget allocates an amount of money to sport every year but this is clearly not enough to fund our activities and projects. All associations should try to find new avenues to raise money which in turn can be used for the preparation of their athletes."