Q: Team Malta had a stellar performance in the recent Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) held locally after winning 97 medals: 38 gold, 30 silver and 29 bronze. What conclusions have been drawn from this year’s edition of GSSE?
JPB: Firstly, it was a historic result. The MOC never came close to achieving this result in the history of the Games of the Small States of Europe. While we did not expect such dramatic success, we came into the Games with high expectations after keeping close contact with our athletes. We did so by staying in touch with their respective federations – every two months at the start of our preparation and every month over the final year – tracking each athlete’s performances. We were also tracking other participating countries’ athletes so that we could compare.
Thanks to the funds we received from the National Development and Social Fund (NDSF), we were more equipped to help our athletes prepare for these Games; this was probably the most that our athletes have gone abroad in preparation for Team Malta. We believe this was instrumental to their preparation as it allowed them to compete with better competition to what we have locally.
CA: With the money we received we had some pressure to show results, and fortunately, we managed to eclipse our targets. Therefore, I believe we utilised the funds we had to the best of our abilities and that the associations we collaborated with understood that our plan for these Games is our way forward from now on. If we want to sustain positive results, we must work scientifically to track our athletes’ performances and we must play our cards right to achieve the best possible results. The introduction of the various services, namely strength and conditioning, nutritional services and psychological services, were part of the success, which we will continue to offer to our top athletes.
MOC President Julian Pace Bonello
Q: In context to this new way forward for Team Malta in its preparation for future international competitions, are the results from the GSSE 2023 sustainable? Can we expect similar results in the next edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe in 2025 – maybe even to win the Games once again?
JPB: It’s difficult to answer that question since different disciplines will be in play in the next Games. Of course, we selected the sports programme for 2023 based on our country’s strengths. However, some of those sports will not be in the next edition while others will. What we can say is that with adequate funding our approach is sustainable. We will continue to focus on athletes, the federations involved in the Games, without forgetting other competitions and national federations.
CA: We are aiming for good results, but as the president said, some of our favourable disciplines will not be there. Since every host country selects the disciplines for its Games, it is expected that every host country picks the disciplines strategically.
For example, while we did very well in squash (in which we won 5/6 gold medals these past Games), squash will not feature in the 2025 GSSE; same goes for sailing. After celebrating the results from GSSE 2023, we began communicating with federations once again – coaches and athletes. The investment we had over the last three years is bearing fruit; the successes we are currently experiencing are now allowing us to invest in other sports outside the GSSE, such as those taking part in the Commonwealth Games, Mediterranean Games, EYOF, the Olympics and so on.
Q: Whose decision was it to import foreign athletes to represent Team Malta during these Games and when was this decision taken?
JPB: Malta is not the only country that did this. If you look at the nine contingents, aside from Iceland, all other participating countries had more foreigners than Team Malta did.
Unfortunately, some media forgot all the other medals (because we won 38 gold medals) and the table tennis players won four gold medals, so we won 34 other gold medals, and instead of celebrating the huge success, for some reason they chose to give a negative spin.
CA: These practices are not new; in fact it has been in practice for many previous editions. Matija Pecotić won two golds (for tennis) but he’s lived in Malta since he was three years old. We would have still ended up first in the Games but it’s not about that, it’s about the legacy. Our young table-tennis athletes had a training camp in Germany with one of these foreign athletes (Felix Wetzel) and his father, who is a top coach in his own right, in preparation for the European Youth Championships in Poland, which occurred earlier this July.
Moreover, the way forward is to up the level – there is no other way; this practice exists in all sports across all countries around the world, even for bigger countries – all countries have athletes attained through passport schemes.
MOC Director of Sport Charlene Attard
Q: What was the reasoning behind the granting of Maltese passports on merit? Was it to catch up to other countries partaking in this trend?
JPB: The National Federation felt that their sport had produced few athletes so they needed some sort of assistance. It was one way to help the sport grow by using these athletes, not only in the Games, but before and even afterwards. Two of them (from table-tennis) plan on going into coaching to help our local athletes, one invited all the young Maltese athletes of a certain level to go for a training camp and three will still be available to play for Team Malta.
CA: This decision was taken by the relevant sports federations – not by MOC. In table tennis, six out of seven committee members decided in favour of this approach. It was the sports federations who decided there was a need to get these athletes to join the Team Malta contingent.
JPB: This process occurred before the Maltese Olympic Committee got involved. We decided on the final contingent.
CA: The federations did their homework and asked themselves two questions:
(1) How can we win?
(2) How can this person (that was given a Maltese passport) support the country afterwards?
There are many different aspects which we look at, it’s not just “get the medal and go home”.
Q: Do you agree with this way forward in the context that these athletes may have taken a place away from some bright and young local athletes?
CA: If they were excellent prospects, they would have been in the team.
We made the participation of our athletes clear in two ways:
If you are an older athlete: you should go and compete to try and win a medal as an elite competitor (target was Top 4 finish).
If you are younger: you may get an opportunity, but in the next edition you should be ready to compete for a medal.
Just taking part… that’s not for any Olympic Committee. In none of the world’s Olympic committees is participation the goal – the aim is to compete. That is a mentality.
It is not just about being the best locally, for example being the current national champion of Malta, it is about each athlete’s level when compared to the international level.
Q: There were some allegations made that some of the athletes from Team Malta had no connection to the Maltese islands – not through familial connections or as local residents. Is this true? and if so, under what qualifications were they given Maltese nationality?
JPB: Some were given a Maltese passport without Maltese connections, but this decision was made because of the legacy they could give our country in their particular sport. Our young athletes are already making use of these people to improve their own game.
CA: We believe we are helping to improve our youngsters’ experience. An experience is either positive or a learning one. If it’s negative, we are not helping our athletes. In the past we had cases where we sent out athletes who were not quite at the level of their competitors – so much so that two years later these same athletes eventually gave up after being discouraged by being so far behind the competitors they faced. We should, ideally, not send up athletes to represent Team Malta if they are not ready to face elite competition; athletes who are not quite at the elite level of other international competitors should fight to reach that high level, though if that gap in skill level is too large, results can be detrimental.
JPB: Once the federation took this decision, these athletes came immediately – even before they got their passports. They came to coach our local athletes in the meantime and they have continued to help develop our local talent since. We cannot understand the negative rhetoric behind the participation of these few foreign professionals.
Q: Should we expect the introduction of foreign athletes to be a new precedent set for Team Malta in future events, to the same extent or will this be further entertained? In what future scenarios will this idea be revisited?
CA: This depends on the rules of the Games we are dealing with at the time. However, it is not a trend. We respect the rules of those specific games.
JPB: This is not a trend that is expected to grow. In a number of sports, we already have a (sufficient) number of athletes who are either Maltese and live here or Maltese and live abroad. For example, we have numerous Maltese squash players who now live in Australia to be the best competitors they can be.
Q: What can be said to those Maltese athletes who felt that their spot within the national contingent was taken away from them by a ‘non-Maltese’?
JPB: No one had their place taken away.
CA: We chose on the criteria that athletes are either there to get medals or if they are young with big potential of making it to future Games – both in the short-term, though especially in the long-term. A 27-year-old who cannot fight for a medal should not expect to be selected for Team Malta, though the same cannot be said for a 17-year-old in the same boat.
People have to understand this: no one was left out. I said we have the best team and we had the best team.
Q: Should Maltese spectators be worried that foreigners are going to begin regularly representing Team Malta over native Maltese?
JPB: No. The contingent was 214 athletes; these few people are on about seven athletes. This is not a trend. It’s a very, very small portion and because the sports needed that impetus to improve and prepare athletes who can compete. We do not have adequate, local athletes who can compete at the moment.
CA: We believe that we should get recognition for utilizing the investment given to us and producing 38 gold medals from the Games of the Small States of Europe last month, not negative publicity about a handful of foreign athletes.
Regarding the foreign athletes, they will be called upon depending on the Games and their rules, the needs of the relevant association and the sport and the legacy behind it. You have to see it as an investment. We have some phenomenal local talent getting ready already for future Games. For instance, Gianluca Chetcuti set a new national record in international competition at the 2023 European Games in trap shooting this July by hitting 124/125 targets and setting a new Games record on the way. He was not part of Team Malta for GSSE 2023 because two other local talents were selected. I think this is one example which shows when we have the right mentality and attitude together with the right funding Maltese athletes will succeed and will be part of Team Malta. We will continue to support our athletes because we believe in them. We are currently setting pathways up to Los Angeles 2028 because our philosophy is to support our athletes’ long-term plan if there is talent and commitment from all stakeholders involved to bring an honour to our country.
