The government has invested €5.5 million in sports through 25 different schemes, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the new Għargħur FC football ground.

He said over 20,000 students had taken part in one of the sports promotion unit’s activities in the past year, and that 48 per cent of Maltese people participated in a sport at least once a week.

The percentage of people doing some form of exercise once a week was higher, at 62 per cent.

The government, the Prime Minister said, was committed to investing in sport.

Part of this commitment was an arrangement with the Malta Football Association to build 16 pitches with new synthetic turf, which would benefit the teams using them as well as the 9,000 children attending football nurseries, he said.

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