Malta Marathon Called Off After Stand Off Between Organisers And Authorities

The Malta Marathon has been called off following a meeting between the organisers of the event, the Malta Marathon Organising Committee (MMOC), and Transport Malta (TM).

Transport Malta held their ground against the route proposed by the organisers. A long-standing point of contention between the parties, with the MMOC alleging that the route proposed by TM could potentially endanger lives, and even cause problems for drivers.

“The route we presented, one that we never had an issue with, was not accepted this year by Transport Malta (TM). In turn, TM proposed a route we had once used in 2008. One which not only created traffic jams, but even endangered runners.”

Following the standoff, the MMOC had this to say:

“Whilst we fully respect Transport Malta’s authority, we cannot adopt a route that has been declared as unacceptable by Mater Dei’s Emergency Department, the Malta Red Cross and the Malta Traffic Police due to safety concerns.”

“Due to time constraints, the MMOC once again asked TM to approve its route for the last time and undertook to discuss a new route for subsequent years. The MMOC also stated that it would start the event 1 hour earlier to mitigate any traffic concerns that TM may have. This request was rejected.”

“The main objection to the MMOC route was the closure of arterial roads to traffic after 1030. In view of this, the MMOC today proposed a way of having all participants out of the arterial routes by 1030 whilst still using the MMOC route. However, this was also refused.”