The recent controversy created by the decis­ion of PBS not to use commentary in Mal­tese for the 2014 World Cup matches to be broadcast on the national TV channel raises some important points of interest, and not just to sports enthusiasts. This is because we are speaking here of a service to be delivered to the public and, therefore, one that should be of the highest standards.

Football is a national pastime and today the number of enthusiasts in our country is increasing, thanks also to the advent of women’s football, which has meant that some members of the fairer sex are now also actively involved.

As such, television broadcasting of football games, both foreign and local, is very popular with a substantial part of the population. Every citizen rightly expects that the quality of sports broadcasting on Malta’s national TV channel should be of the highest standard.

What do we find in reality? There is no problem when football matches are broadcast with foreigners providing the commentary but the opposite seems to be the case when there are Maltese commentators. Almost everyone agrees that, with one or two exceptions, the level of commentary of football matches by Maltese is really below standard, sometimes descending to pathetic and totally unacc­eptable levels.

The argument is a rather simple one: in this day and age we cannot accept amateur football comm­entaries on the national TV channel which degrade the Maltese nation. I find it incredible that there were people who had the audacity to criticise the decision to broadcast the 2014 World Cup football matches with foreign commentary and not in Maltese by local commentators.

Let me start with the argument presented by these people, that the Maltese language deserves better. My answer is: “Who do you think you are fooling?” Those of us who regularly follow football matches on the national TV channel know that the Maltese language is massacred by several Maltese commentators. I sometimes cannot believe my ears when I hear such commentary: “jippassja l-ballun” (“he passes the ball”), “jimmeetja l-pass” (“he meets the pass”), “jiccuttja lejn il-lemin” (“he cuts towards the right”). Excuse me, but what kind of Maltese is this? Are these the standards of Maltese one should expect to hear on the national TV channel?

The level is really below standard, sometimes descending to pathetic and unacceptable

Even the argument that there are still several Maltese who find difficulty following in another language is ridiculous. We are speaking of a football match here, not of Einstein’s theory of relativity! I have sometimes followed matches streamed online where the commentary was in a language I did not know a word of and I still easily followed the flow of the game and understood enough to enjoy it. After all, the names of the players remain the same and you have the visual aspect to help you. We are not speaking of a radio commentary here.

I would like to say a few words now about the technical aspect of football commentaries by Maltese commentators. I would expect that anybody who provides comment­ary for a football match would prepare himself beforehand by keeping oneself up to date regarding the teams playing and all information pertaining to the game. What do we find instead? Many local commentators do not even bother to spend some hours preparing for the game in hand.

Do you expect a commentator to be unable to pronounce correctly the name of a player who even people uninterested in football have heard about? Do you expect a commentator to spend half the time speaking about other aspects of football to try to mask the fact that he cannot recognise the players who are in possession of the ball?

Most local commentators feel ok if England, Italy, Germany, Spain or some other famous national team is playing, but they are totally lost if one of the teams is Costa Rica, Algeria or some other lesser-known national side. Why? Because they couldn’t be bothered to spend a couple of hours doing their homework before the game commenced.

What is the solution to all this? We need to aim towards professionalism in football broadcasting. A small pool of commentators should be trained and paid adequately according to results. Slackers and people who are there to make some extra money without making the effort to earn it should be dealt with ruthlessly. Simply get rid of them, they are a disgrace to their colleagues and to the people who follow the national TV channel. The Maltese people deserve a better service.

A sustained effort should also be made to ensure the correct use of the Maltese language in all broadcast sports commentaries. Where there are a couple of words which are rather tricky to translate correctly, the advice of experts should be sought during the training phase.

Sports commentaries of a high standard would be a credit to the Maltese nation.

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