Athletes hoping to train at the University of Malta’s sports grounds have expressed frustration after finding cars parked on the football pitch.
“Let’s inhale some exhaust. Yes, let’s promote sports,” well-known athlete Fabio Spiteri said as he and others took to social media to vent their annoyance.
“Came to run at the state-of-the-art university track only to find it being used as a car park,” he said sarcastically.
Others described the situation as a “joke”, saying no one had told them about the arrangement.
Contacted for comment, a university spokesperson said students were parking on the pitch because another car park was being temporarily used for marquees for the upcoming graduations ceremony.
The university will this year be holding graduation ceremonies for students who completed courses over the past two years, after the event was cancelled in 2020 because of pandemic restrictions. The ceremonies will kick off on November 15 and run until December 3. The spokesperson said the university has made arrangements to accommodate guests in the marquees set up in Upper Car Park 6.
“To compensate for the loss of parking bays for students, UM has made arrangements for students to park at the football pitch. This is a temporary measure and once the marquees are dismantled, parking will no longer be allowed on the football pitch,” the spokesperson said.
The sports complex “has remained accessible at all times for those who would like to use it”.
Meanwhile, Spiteri’s comments sparked a debate on the rundown state of the complex.
“This sport facility is a disgrace,” one person said.
“Always talking about massive projects they were planning to do, but it never happened and I don’t believe they will do it.”
“The track still the same since it was built. They should at least fix the holes and take care a bit of the surrounding areas,” a student said.
In 2019, the Planning Authority gave the green light for the University Sports Complex in Tal-Qroqq to be upgraded with new facilities. The new building will include six squash courts, a multi-purpose sports hall, lecture rooms, research laboratories and offices.