Sports Commentator

Carmelo was born in Valletta, the son of Paul Costa and Josephine née Attard. He was educated at t Lyceum.

One of Malta’s most popular sports personalities, Costa was the Malta Rediffusion Company’s sports commentator for over 30 years.

Costa was an authority on football and his technical criticism was appreciated by all. Like most football critics, he was sometimes accused of partisanship but level-headed supporters always found him fair and impartial. His skills in commentating made him a household name among sports lovers of every genre and he was compared to the great Italian sports commentator Nicolò Carosio.

Though Costa excelled in football, he was by no means inferior in his commentaries on other sports, such as waterpolo, billiards, and athletics.

In the sixties, Costa switched to television and he made a valuable contribution to the programme Sports Magazine, presented by the Maltese sports personality Lewis Portelli.

During this period Costa gave direct commentaries in Maltese of some of the major international matches transmitted on Italian TV. His talents during such transmissions were much appreciated by the public,  especially those who were neither conversant with Italian nor with the names of foreign players. In his weekly broadcasts, he kept his listeners informed of what was taking place in sport all over the world; besides covering all the important events of the day.

In June 2005, The Maltese Olympic Committee (MOC) recognised Carmelo Costa as a Member of the MOC Hall of Fame for his contribution to Maltese Sport at the highest national/international level for a long period of time.

Carmelo Costa married Mary Attard Portughes on 11 September 1935 (deceased) and Josephine Trapani on 24 August 1954 and they had a son Joseph and a daughter, Cettina.

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.