Joe Cassar and Marie Therese Cuschieri will contest the election for the post of Maltese Olympic Committee general secretary as nominations for the Executive Committee elections came to a close yesterday.
The ballot for general secretary will be the only one on the agenda during the MOC Annual General Meeting, scheduled for April 19, as all other posts will be uncontested with the required quota of nominations met according to the governing body’s statute.
Two delegates from each of the 41 affiliated associations will be eligible to vote and elect a new MOC administrative set-up.
For the long-serving Cassar, this will be the first time that he is being challenged for the important seat of general secretary since he first entered office way back in 1993.
Cuschieri will be making a return to the MOC fold having already served in the MOC Exco a few years back when she filled the role of director.
Next month, MOC president Julian Pace Bonello will be looking for a vote of approval despite no other nomination for the president’s hot seat. He was first elected as head in 2013 when taking over from Lino Farrugia Sacco.
William Beck, who was one of the MOC directors in the previous term, has put his name forward for the post of deputy president as Mark Cutajar is not seeking a re-election. David Azzopardi is set to retain the post of Director of Finance.
Mario Micallef will not continue in his role as Director of Sport and his replacement will be Ivan Balzan.
Micallef, however, will still be involved in the MOC as he has put his name for the post of director.
“Due to new commitments at work I have decided not to seek a second term as Director of Sport,” Micallef told Times of Malta.
“It was a difficult decision to take but I couldn’t continue in the job knowing I cannot dedicate the same amount of time needed to carry out my duties properly.
“This is a demanding role within the MOC. However, this does not mean I will jump ship. I’ve told Mr Pace Bonello about my decision and he has encouraged me to stay.
“For sure, I will be glad to assist Ivan Balzan in the technical commission to consolidate and build on the good work carried out over these last four years.”
This will be no new experience for Balzan.
In 2013, he replaced Cutajar as Director of Sport but stepped down unexpectedly a few months later citing personal reasons.
Kirill Micallef Stafrace, Jonathan Vella, Paul Sultana and Lucienne Attard have all put in their nominations for re-election as directors for the next two years.
The other three to complete the set-up will be Cuschieri, if she fails in her bid for secretary general, and newcomers Maria Vella Galea and Charlene Attard.
Charles Camenzuli, Dion Buhagiar and Sue Mercieca, who served on the MOC Exco in the last two years, have decided not to seek re-election.