Sport lowly placed for EU funding

I read with interest the article on the funding of sports in Malta penned by my old friend John Consiglio (June 13). Mr Consiglio, who was commenting on what he describes as "the spat between the Maltese Olympic Committee and the Malta Sports Council," did not really put his finger on the problem, let alone the solution.

Being a director on the board of the Malta Olympic Committee, I have no intention of involving myself in the unnecessary squabble between the MOC and the KMS (I believe that both entities have their own important and respective roles, and can work hand in hand yet independent of each other) but rather what the authorities could have done, and what can be done, for better funding and better results.

Sport, like everything else, depends on adequate investment together with long-term planning. The local sports associations and federations need to budget and plan their programme at least two years in advance. Yet the KMS advised the amount that it would be passing on to the MOC in January each year, while the GSSE games are held in June. The KMS itself depends on the annual government budget for its commitments and cannot promise anything until its own annual budget proposals is approved.

The crux of the problem lies in the fact that the MOC cannot promise or pass on any funding to the various associations and federations before January each year. Now how can any association which depends on financing from the MOC contract to employ coaches or plan training camps before they know what funding they themselves would be receiving? One can argue that sports associations have to take commercial risks. Should they? But they do!

This year the MAAA (I am sure there are others ) had planned, a year in advance, to hold an international athletic meeting. It cost the association €25,000. The MOC contributed €5,000 while the association has been promised to receive from the Good Causes Fund the sum of €4,000 for the amount spent on refurbishing the long jump pit. The association's request for assistance from the KMS, which can only be a small fraction of the total sum, is still awaited. The MAAA would have to absorb the remaining balance. Can a sport association in Malta continue to absorb such costs and survive? Does this makes sense or is it fair?

The KMS, the MOC and the associations/federations need to be able to plan and budget their operations at least over a period of four years (the Olympic cycle) as otherwise we would never be able to raise the standard of our sport to the desired levels.

Being also the president of an association whose athletes took part in the Games of the Small States of Europe, my opinion as to whether our athletes have achieved our targets or not is bound be biased, apart from the fact that it's not the subject of this article.

However, I am permitted to recall, I hope, a brief discussion which I had with Henry Brincat (an experienced sports journalist in his own right) while we were on the track in Cyprus at the finish of the last event. "Look around you," I told Mr Brincat. "See for yourself the facilities they have and tell me how we can compete with such people". I then asked him to recall the facilities that the athletic Federation of Monaco had when we went there for the GSSE Games two years ago.

Sports today is based on professional preparation and athletes need to have gym equipment, medical facilities, physiotherapy and message services as well as rehabilitation facilities such as a jacuzzi and saunas so that they could recover more quickly after tough training sessions as well as to help prevent injuries.

Why can't we have such facilities? Even better; why can't we apply for EU funding to build the necessary facilities?

Because up till now our government has not found it necessary to include sports as one of the economic priorities for EU funding projects". This, in my opinion, is what the KMS should be working on, trying to obtain the necessary funding to improve infrastructure and facilities if we really want to raise the standard of sport in Malta.