A large contingent of 59 athletes will be making the trip to Azerbaijan, for the inaugural European Games it was announced yesterday as Malta will be represented in seven disciplines at the multi-sport event to be held between June 12 and 28.

The Games are the brainchild of Euro Olympic Committee president Patrick Hickey who proposed the idea of staging the continental championships in 2011.

His move got the approval of the EOC member federations in December 2012 and it was decided that the first edition of the European Games would be held in Baku, the Azeri capital.

Ben Plumpton... flag bearer.

At first, the Maltese Olympic Committee (MOC) were planning to send a token contingent but following other developments it was decided to increase the travelling group.

“When the European Games were approved our first intention was to be represented by a small group of athletes,” MOC president Julian Pace Bonello told reporters yesterday.

“However, the organising committee’s decision to allocate substantial funds to participating countries, coupled with the international federations’ decision to distribute more invitations to athletes, forced us into a re-think.

“The majority of athletes selected for the Games got the green light to make the trip not because of minimum qualifying standards but through direct invitation.

“The only exception in our group are the waterpolo U-17 team. They qualified on their own merit for the European Games.

“The track and field squad is also strong as the Baku events will double up as the third-tier European competition.”

Besides waterpolo and track and field, the MOC will be represented in badminton, cycling, judo, shooting and triathlon.

Swimming is a notable absentee from the contingent.

Pace Bonello said that the Aquatic Sport Association had stood by its stance to ban Neil Muscat from the GSSE and the European Games.

“The ASA have decided to withdraw Neil Muscat from the contingent for disciplinary reasons,” Pace Bonello said.

“This issue was the top item on the agenda in meetings we had with the ASA but they decided to keep their position. Anyway, now it is too late to make additions to the squad as the deadline for registrations is over.”

The MOC chief said he was saddened that all this had to happen with the GSSE and European Games so close.

“What happened in swimming lately convinced me that there needs to be a change of how things are managed on the eve of major Games,” Pace Bonello remarked.

“I think that an agreement has to be reached with the associations concerned for us to have more say in certain decisions, particularly in the lead-up to international selection.

“You have to understand that the MOC provide funds for athletes’ technical preparations for two whole years prior to such Games. Then, to see these same athletes withdrawn from the squad without having a say in the matter I think there’s more explanation than just that.”

Dion Buhagiar will be Malta’s chef-de-mission in Baku.

He said the European Games are very challenging from an organisation aspect as the event is spanned over almost three weeks.

“I have been in close contact with the organising committee in Baku for the past year or so now and from what I have learned it looks like it’s going to be a high calibre European Games,” Buhagiar said.

“Some of the events will also serve as Olympic qualifiers and continental championships.

“With us having a sizeable contingent it means extra pressure on the MOC but I’m confident that everything will go according to plan.”

Meanwhile, it was announced that U-17 waterpolo team captain Ben Plumpton has been named as Malta’s flag bearer for Baku.

Team Malta

Athletics: L. Bezzina, N. Brimmer, A. Cassar Torregiani, R. Chouhal, M. Croker, R. Dimech, L. Dimech, A. Grech, I.P. Grech, M. Herrera, D. Mangion, M. Mifsud, B. Mifsud, J. Mifsud, K. Moore, L. Ransley, D. Saliba, C. Sheldon, S. Spiteri; C. Attard, L.M. Bezzina, F. Borg, S. Busuttil, M. Camilleri, G. Camilleri, R. Camilleri, A. Chouhal, R. Fitz, M. Grech, D. Micallef, Y. Pace, J. Richard, R. Sare, J. Vella and C. Wingfield.

Badminton: M.F. Sadowski, S. Cali.

Cycling: M. Vella Wood, M. Formosa.

Judo: M. Bezzina, I. Bezzina.

Shooting: E. Bezzina, N. Xuereb.

Triathlon: D. Bonello Spiteri, H. Pace, K. Galea.

Waterpolo: J. Abela, M. Azzo-pardi, F. Buhagiar, L. Calleja, D. Fenech, J. Galea, J. Gambin, M. Manara, K. Navarro, B. Plumpton, J. Sciberras, J. Tanti, D. Zammit.