When two tribes go to war

The stalemate between the Malta Olympic Committee (MOC) and the Malta Sports Council (KMS) has stretched too far.

What began as a cold war has now descended into a fully-fledged dispute with the two sides organising news conferences and struggling to influence the media on who is right and wrong.

In a small country like ours, the consequences of such bickering may well have a long-lasting negative impact that will take years to redress.

On one hand, the MOC is claiming that its autonomy is under threat while, on the other, the KMS has been stressing that by law, it is duty bound to scrutinise how the funds allocated by the government are being managed.

The MOC is the supreme body responsible for participation in the Olympics, Commonwealth and Mediterranean Games as well as the European Youth Olympic Festival and the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE).

No one doubts this fact and any interference in this field is bound to raise the eyebrows of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

To ensure that Maltese athletes achieve progress and good results in such important events, the MOC has embarked on a programme whereby federations and associations receive substantial sums of money for the technical preparation of their athletes.

Elite athletes pinpointed to represent the country in these important events benefit from a number of schemes including the services of professional coaches, use of gymnasium, access to the Functional Diagnostics Laboratory for medical testing and a nominal monthly remuneration as a means of compensation for their efforts.

This strategy has made it possible for our athletes to bridge the gap with their counterparts from other European small countries.

The only shortcoming of this plan has always been its short-term goal.

The MOC has always defended its stance by claiming that the government was never in a position to reveal the sports budget for a four-year term and, as a result, technical programmes had to be carried out on a year-by-year basis.

With the next edition of the GSSE to be held in Andorra only a handful of months away, the MOC has publicly declared that it will not send any athletes to compete if this impasse with the KMS is not resolved.

While the two sporting bodies dabble in what is now clearly becoming a power struggle, it is the athletes who are left in limbo.

Most federations depend on funding from the MOC to move ahead with their technical programmes for their best athletes.

With Pippo Psaila back at the helm as Director of Sports, federations know only too well that they cannot be complacent.

Yet, with no funds guaranteed for technical programmes, federations have kept a low profile and many athletes have not been exposed to international competitions that are so crucial to fine-tune their physical as well as mental framework for competition proper. Our athletes' chances of pulling off another great show at the next GSSE look extremely slim.

Serious repercussions

Elite athletes are willing to put in long hours of training. Some of the island's best athletes are in their mid-twenties, are engaged in full-time employment and with the possibility of marriage and a family on the horizon.

These individuals have suddenly found themselves entangled in a complicated game of chess that is heading towards an unpredictable finish.

Athletes have to be motivated to perform well. Uncertainty over whether Maltese athletes will be competing in Andorra or in Almeria later this year could induce more of our sporting ambassadors to call it a day and dedicate their time doing other things which are less demanding and more pleasure-oriented.

This may have a domino effect on other spheres of sports as even officials and administrators who give so much of their free time to the good of sports will be tempted to follow suit.

The KMS and the MOC have to rush to the negotiating table before it is too late. They both have plenty to contribute to the sporting society in Malta and they can easily agree on separate niches on which to focus their energies.

The island's dream is to have an Olympic medallist by 2008. This entails a cohesive, athlete-oriented strategy to yield results.

The KMS and MOC would do well to sit around the table and agree on a strategy to target athlete selection for the 2012 Olympic Games.

That would surely earn the two squabbling bodies the plaudits of the whole sporting community in Malta.

Meanwhile, while giants win wars within their dreams, the real casualties are the athletes on the training battlefield!