Maltese Olympic Committee president Lino Farrugia Sacco yesterday morning lashed out at the organisers of the Cyprus GSSE, branding the whole set-up of the Games 'a magnificent disaster'.
Addressing the media at a news conference in Nicosia, the MOC head was frank in his reply when questioned about a series of problems Maltese athletes had to deal with since the contingent's arrival on Sunday.
"The Cyprus organising committee has produced a magnificent disaster," Farrugia Sacco lamented.
"Since our arrival here we have had to deal with a series of problems which we were not prepared for and this did not help our athletes to settle down easily.
"The first major problem we faced was hotel accommodation.
"Unfortunately, the Cypriot organisers also decided at the very last minute to have their entire basketball squad in the same hotel where all athletes from the other participating nations were staying, creating a huge congestion.
"As a result twin rooms are now accommodating three athletes and in some cases even more. Surely, this wasn't something we were pleased about. The same goes for the other nations."
The Cypriot Olympic Committee had boasted a smooth-running Games and efficient service to media personnel but until yesterday there were very few updates on the official website and results in some sport did not appear at all.
Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco, a long-time member of the GSSE International Bureau, was also critical of the poor attendances witnessed at the Games so far.
"This is the first time in many editions that I have seen an opening ceremony with such a poor attendance," he remarked.
"In our opinion, the Cyprus organisers got their marketing wrong as so far very few people have turned up for the Games with competition being held in front of almost empty seats. It's a real shame for the image of the GSSE."
Mark Cutajar, the MOC Director of Sport, said that communication with the Cypriot officials was turning out to be difficult.
"We have submitted a long list of complaints but in each case it has taken us a huge effort to get our message across," Cutajar said.
"I have been pushing hard these past three days to have basic requirements, such as water, available during training but so far they have not addressed on these shortcomings.
"In Limassol, our gymnasts were supposed to have a medical room for themselves but ended up sharing the same area with others. It was only after some heated arguments that we eventually had it our way."
Turning his sights on our athletes' achievements on Tuesday, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said there were encouraging signs.
"So far so good but we are expecting much more here," he said.
"William and Carol are pleasant confirmations for Team Malta while the medals in air-rifle and gymnastics show that Maltese sport is developing on a wider scale.
"It's still too early to make further comments and although there were some unexpected results, we're still hopeful of reaching most of our targets by the end of these Games."