An anomaly that undermines progress of local youngsters

The presence of foreign players in domestic competitions has long been regarded as controversial even if this issue has now abated in intensity.

Competition rules regarding these foreigners have undergone almost a yo-yo pattern in these past years as these players were allowed to turn out for local clubs at a given point in time, only for the regulations to be reversed at another.

At the moment, it is back to square one, with clubs being allowed to sign an unlimited number of expatriates on the proviso that only two can be included in the team list at a given time.

The detractors of this competition rule allowing foreigners to play for our teams contend that local talent is suffocated and hardly given a chance to develop and improve, while they also say that these stars are too much of a financial burden on our clubs.

Those in favour argue that these players are an attraction and will help to improve the performance of their Maltese colleagues while infusing more colour and quality in our game.

This year, however, such a controversy has seeped through the ranks of the juniors. It is known that a number of teams in the Under 14, 16 and 19 categories are parading a number of foreign youngsters to boost their chances of winning the titles at stake.

Many are of the opinion that, if ever there was an anomalous regulation allowing the use of foreigners in our junior competitions, then this is it.

Such a rule will definitely restrict Maltese talent and will undermine our junior national teams’ chances of making progress and compete with some success in international competitions. We should keep in mind that the wider the base of Maltese players is, the better it will be for us to detect talent.

Unless the rule allowing the use of foreign players in these categories is supported by appropriate checks and balances such as those prevailing in football, the downward slide in junior waterpolo is bound to gain momentum. There should be no short-sighted regulations allowing foreign youngsters to turn out for our teams. This is no less than a myopic policy.

The most recent episode has seen San Ġiljan making use of two Italian siblings, currently understood to be part of a very useful and forward-looking waterpolo camp being organised in Malta.

These players were found to be ineligible – following a ruling by the ASA Council – when the Saints played Neptunes last week and the team forfeited the points on the protest table.

It is understood that for the subsequent match between the two teams these players were eventually issued with an ASA-endorsed card, again in violation of the competition rules, and turned up once more for their team. If this is so, this is inexplicable and the matter surely warrants to be looked into at high ASA levels.

When contacted ASA president Austin Sammut preferred not to express himself on the matter, saying: “Since the case is subject to a protest filed by Neptunes and which is still to be heard it would be improper for me to comment on this issue.”

There should be no place for foreign youngsters in our junior teams. If this is allowed to go on, only harm can be done to the game in our country. It is hoped that some sense will prevail.