The Maltese Olympic Committee (MOC) will elect a new administration this evening when elections are held at the Tal-Qroqq headquarters.

There will be major changes in the Exco set-up with new officials filling the posts of president, deputy president and director of sport.

Julian Pace Bonello is the only candidate for the president’s seat to fill the void left by Lino Farrugia Sacco who will not seek re-election after 13 years in charge.

Mark Cutajar, for the last four years responsible for the athletes’ technical preparation, will be seeking the councillors’ approval as deputy president while Ivan Balzan, the squash national coach, is the only one bidding to become the new director of sport.

Joe Cassar (secretary) and David Azzopardi (treasurer) are expected to keep their posts for another four-year term.

As regards other places in the committee, a tight election is expected for the eight seats available, of which, according to the MOC statute, two must be filled by women candidates.

Envic Galea, Lucienne Attard, Vince Stivala, Joe Borg Cardona and Charles Camenzuli are all seeking to get re-elected.

Eight new faces are also looking to enter the MOC fold. They are Paul Sultana, Dion Buhagiar, Mario Micallef, Branko Vlahovic, Jona-than Vella, Roberto de Sanctis, Sue Mercieca and Francesca Borg.

With the country engaged in two important sporting events in the coming months – the GSSE and Mediterranean Games – the new director of sport is in for a hectic start to his term in office.

Cutajar said initially he had decided to leave the MOC alto-gether but he was eventually convinced to stay.

“I always contended that my duty as director of sport would have been a four-year job and no more. In fact, I had planned to quit after last year’s London Olympics due to other commitments,” Cutajar said.

“Managing the technical department is a tough job. Apart from the expertise and enthusiasm, you also need a lot of time. I am very lucky my employers at St Martin’s College were behind me all the way.

“They supported me throughout my time at the MOC but I still felt it was time to move on.

“However, Julian Pace Bonello and Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco convinced me to stay on but in a different role.

“I’m grateful to Farrugia Sacco as he was the one who encouraged me to candidate myself four years ago and under his helm the MOC made giant strides forward.

“Now, I want to continue helping the MOC in other sectors, particularly marketing and to keep strengthening relations with all our partners.

“Obviously, I will also be there to assist the new director of sport when needed.”

Liaison exercise

Cutajar believes the MOC must liaise more closely with Kunsill Malti għall-Isport (KMS).

“One of my biggest disap-pointments these last few years was the poor relationship that existed between the MOC and KMS,” Cutajar said.

“We lost precious time at executive level engaged in squabbles with KMS that, in my opinion, could have easily been avoided with more good intention from both parts.

“I would also like to see a more energetic MOC set-up. Indeed, having some new faces running for election is already a good sign.

“Our first test will be in Luxembourg. It’s going to be a difficult GSSE for us as the sports programme agreed upon does not favour us, particularly following the omission of Double Trap from the calendar.

“Then, we have the Mediterranean Games.

“The level will be much higher here but I’m confident we can field a strong team by the time we’ll leave for Turkey.”