It is often said that sports and politics do not mix. But I dare say that this is not the case with the Malta Olympic Committee. No, this is not about red, blue, orange and green. This is neither about William Chetcuti participating in the Rio Olympics in double trap – he ranks third in the world and he earned it; nor about Eleonor Bezzina, per se. I do not know the lady and I wish her every success in the Summer Olympic Games in Rio.

This is about the MOC’s decision to recommend only two athletes to the Tripartite Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), when it is eligible to recommended 28 with only two from the same discipline and why the second name put down by MOC was that of Bezzina when we have other athletes in shooting and in other sports who fare much better.

Bezzina will be taking part in the 10m air pistol and the 25m air pistol and she ranks 68th in 10m air pistol and does not rank in the first 125 in the 25m pistol.

Other athletes include Andrew Chetcuti, who ranks 42nd worldwide in 100m freestyle swimming, and Nicola Muscat, who ranks 58th worldwide in the 100m freestyle swimming, Matthew Zammit, the first swimmer to go under the 23 second mark in 50m freestyles and Nathan Lee Xuereb, who ranks 28th worldwide in the double trap.

Other countries base their decision on the performances of the athlete throughout the qualifying period. Slovakia, for example, secured a quota place in the women’s trap at the 2015 European Shooting Championships and, instead, the Slovak Olympic Committee chose to exchange it with an additional spot in its counterpart based on performances throughout the qualifying period.

Why the Malta Olympic Committee only chose these two athletes when it could have nominated more is a mystery

Italy chose to exchange the quota place with another sports discipline. It secured an additional quota place in the men’s 50m pistol at the 2015 European Shooting Championships but the Italian Olympic Committee and the Italian Sport Shooting Federation chose to exchange it with the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol instead, based on performances throughout the qualifying period.

In Malta, the MOC does nothing of the sort. Without any clear and transparent selection criteria, it chooses the athletes, chooses the sport discipline and, when the IOC accepts its recommendations and other athletes ask for an explanation, the MOC exonerates itself from any responsibility by stating that the selection came from the IOC.

In the case of Bezzina, the MOC submitted a joint application with the Malta Shooting Sport Federation and recommended her and Chetcuti as the only two athletes to be considered by the Tripartite Commission of the International Olympic Committee.

Why the MOC only chose these two athletes when it could have nominated more is a mystery; just as I cannot understand how, now that Chetcuti won the World Cup, he did not automatically win a quota place in the double trap. The regulations state that one athlete can obtain only one quota place for his/her NOC in any event.

If a quota place is won in an event by an athlete who has already won a quota place in any event, the quota place will be granted to the NOC of the next ranking athlete.

It has come to my knowledge that Chetcuti and Bezzina were, last June, informed that, following a joint application by the MOC and the MSSF, the Olympic Games Tripartite Commission allocated an invitation place for them to compete in this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio.

Chetcuti, after that confirmation, won the World Cup and he obtained a quota place, meaning the one he obtained earlier will be granted to the next ranking athlete.

The MOC must not waste time and since there are still 10 more quotas available, it is in duty bound not to miss this opportunity that arose thanks to Chetcuti.

For those of us unfamiliar with the selection process, the Tripartite Commission replaced the white cards. This commission invites the national Olympic committees, which have traditionally sent small delegations to the Olympic Games, to be represented at the games by selected athletes from NOCs unable to qualify.

The maximum number of qualified athletes is 28 per national Olympic committee and the maximum qualification per event is two athletes except in the trap and skeet events for women where the qualification is limited to one athlete only.

Invitations were issued on October 15, 2015, applications were submitted by the MOC jointly with the shooting federation and only on behalf of Chetcuti and Bezzina. Their applications were analysed and approved by the commission and the rest is history.

I hope the MOC, in the spirit of the founder of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, will treat all our athletes and all our sports disciplines equally, be more transparent in the selection criteria and get us the third invitation place for another one of our athletes to make it to Rio.

Anna Mallia is a lawyer.

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