Watch: ‘They Are Maltese’ – MOC Stands Firm On Naturalised Players In Malta’s Small States Squad
The Maltese Olympic Committee (MOC)’s director of sport Charlene Attard defended the inclusion of naturalised players in Malta’s table tennis squad for the upcoming Small States Games.
In an interview with Lovin Malta, Attard said that these players are legally Maltese citizens and have every right to play for the natural team.
She argued that this is common practice within the sporting world, pointing out that legendary British runner Mo Farah was actually born in Somaliland.
Attard said that other countries at the Small States Games will also be represented by a number of naturalised players.
“Look at Monaco’s team and see how many French players are included.”
“A French man will probably win the 400m race because he forms part of the French national team and even represented France at the Paris Olympics.”
“However, he is representing Monaco at these Games because the rules allow him to.”
With regards to the naturalised table tennis players who will be representing Malta, Attard said they were given citizenship following a decision by the previous Malta Table Tennis Association in the lead-up to the 2023 Small States Games.
She said that no players have been naturalised since then.
The decision to include naturalised players was recently criticised by Maltese table tennis champion Gabriel Grixti, who was left out of the national squad.
Gabriel Grixti
However, Attard defended the MOC’s decision to exclude Grixti, arguing that he didn’t satisfy their qualification criteria to compete in the Games.
She said that the MOC had set participation in three competitions on a similar level to the Small States Games as qualification criteria.
She said Grixti didn’t attend a 2024 tournament in Cyprus or European qualifiers in 2025 for personal reasons.
While he participated at the third competition in Malta last December, Attard said he was outperformed by Daniel Bajada, who has been included in Malta’s table tennis squad.
Malta hosted the ETTU Trophy last December. The club of one and the club of another both took part, but Gabriel lost two and won one. The other athlete (Daniel Bajada) won two and lost one.
“I understand that Gabriel is a fifth year medical student but you can’t penalise athletes who took part in these competitions,” she said.
READ NEXT: Street Cleaning To Shift To Off-Peak Hours In New Agreement Aimed At Easing Traffic
