There are less than seven days to go before delegates from all European countries convene in Malta for the European Athletics Association (EAA) Calendar Conference between October 11 and 14 at the New Dolmen Hotel in St Paul's Bay.

The final details about this conference were revealed to the media by Tony Chircop, president of the Malta Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA), which has just been rebranded as Athletics Malta, during a press briefing at the local body headquarters in Marsa.

Chircop said that Athletics Malta's involvement in this conference dates back to October 2005 when in Reykjavik, Malta won the right to host the 2007 meeting.

"That was a great achievement for Maltese athletics," Chircop said.

"We beat competition from Ukraine and Poland and that is not easy for a small country like ours. That vote also showed that the European delegates were keen to explore Malta, a fact highlighted by the number of registrations we have received so far.

"Normally such events attract around 250 delegates but this year the number has already reached 330 and there is still one week to go."

The EAA Calendar Conference is staged in a different European city each year and brings together the presidents, secretaries, chief coaches and marketing managers of all athletics associations in Europe.

Chircop said that, although the main objective of the conference is to finalise the programme of events for European athletics, such as the Golden Gala, international meetings and cross country championships to name a few, several committees also take the opportunity to meet and discuss other topics.

In Malta next week, there will be meetings for the Euro General Assembly, the Balkan Athletic Association, the board of head coaches and the Small States of Europe, which are under the presidency of the Maltese council.

"Perhaps, the most important appointment is the presidents and general secretaries workshop," Chircop said. "At this meeting, the delegates will be discussing the appointment of the various commissions for the next four years while other decisions will be taken on TV marketing issues.

"However, the most important item on the agenda is the vote on whether the European Championships would be held during an Olympic year or not."

The EAA conference will be chaired by president Hansjorg Wirz. In the absence of IAAF chief Lamine Diack, newly-elected vice-president Sergey Bubka, the former Olympic pole vault champion, will represent the world athletics' governing body.

Gala Night

The highlight of the four-day meeting will be a Gala Night where the EAA will name the winners of the public poll for the selection of EAA athletes of the year awards for 2007. The glitzy ceremony will be held today week at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

Among the distinguished guests for this Gala Night are Russian pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, hot favourite to capture the female of the year award, and former athletes Gabriela Szabo, Lyn Davies, Irena Swezenka, Valery Borzov and Jonathan Edwards.

On Saturday, the 2007 award winners will be presented to the media during a press conference at the Dolmen Hotel where EAA president Wirz will provide a review of the conference.

During the EAA conference, delegates from the cities of Gothenburg and Paris will be promoting their bids to host the European Indoor Championships in 2011.

Meanwhile, to commemorate the staging of the 2007 EAA Calendar Conference in Malta, Athletics Malta are organising a 5K race in collaboration with the Mellieha Athletic Club.

The race will start and finish in the Bugibba square. Each participant will be given a commemorative t-shirt. Applications can be downloaded from the MAAA website www.athleticsmalta.org. Closing date for registration is October 8.

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