Lack of funds could force Gerada to miss out

Maltese-Australian Simon Gerada could be forced to withdraw from next March's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne due to lack of funds to support his table-tennis technical preparation.

Contacted yesterday in Australia, Gerada said it has been over seven months now since he received funding from the Malta Olympic Committee. He said the financial burden was leaving its toll on his build-up and unless some assistance arrives he will have no other option but to miss out on the Commonwealth Games.

"My contract with the MOC expired last June after the Andorra GSSE," Gerada said.

"After a couple of months we spoke about my preparation for the Commonwealths and the MOC told me that they had no funds available at the moment and that I had to wait until January before I could receive further assistance.

"I fully understood the situation. But now we are already almost in the second week of January and the MOC is still unable to guarantee assistance. I have been a professional for the past 10 years but things are turning to be too difficult for me now.

"Probably, if the same situation prevails I will have to abandon my training and find a job. We have to sort the matter out by the end of the month. If not, there won't be enough time for me to peak for the Commonwealths. In that case I'd rather drop out."

Gerada is still keen to play table-tennis for Malta in Melbourne, his place of residence.

"After I won gold in Andorra I immediately turned my sights on these Games in Melbourne.

"It has always been a dream for me to win a medal for Malta in such high-profile Games. However, these financial problems could wreck my ambition."

MOC Director of Sport Pippo Psaila said he fully understood Gerada's position.

"I can understand how frustrated he must feel but at the moment there is little we can do to find a way out of this problem," Psaila said.

"Before the end of the year, the MOC made sure to secure financial guarantees from the International and European Olympic Committees, Olympic Solidarity and a few private firms so a group of around 45 athletes and officials will make the trip to Melbourne.

"However, we do not have any other funds available, mainly to assist our athletes in their technical preparation.

"Last July we submitted our plans for the next four years to the authorities concerned but there was no feedback. We were left in the dark on the funds we are going to be allocated... in such circumstances you cannot promise anything to anyone."

Gerada has been playing for Malta in international competition since 2001 when he made his debut in the GSSE in San Marino.

On that occasion, he just missed out on the gold medal in the singles when he lost the final to Luxembourg's Ciociu 2-1.

Two years later he went all out to make up for that upset in the Malta GSSE but failed to reach expectations and had to settle for a bronze medal.

Gerada finally showed his talent during last May's GSSE in Andorra when he teamed up with Andrzei Makowski, of Polish origins, to land gold and silver in team and doubles events. He then went on to beat Makowski to finally land the singles title that had eluded him in the past.

The MOC has already given strong hints on its contingent for the Commonwealth Games in March with the inclusion of some athletes living in Australia of Maltese descent.

The official list will be announced at the end of the month.