SPEECH DELIVERED BY THE HON JESMOND MUGLIETT, PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, ON THE OCCASION OF THE MEETING OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON YOUTH AND SPORT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE - AT SAS RADISSON, ST. JULIAN

The need for a Sport Law in Malta has long been felt. Tentatives at drafting this law go back to more than six years ago. Inthe past years the local sports scene has been changing tremendously making the need for such a law more pertinent.

• To date we do not have the practice whereby the Department drafts a sports policy or strategy and draws out a strategic plan for its implementation

• There is no legislative framework by means of which, the Minister responsible for sportcan issue regulations and directives expediently.

• Since 1995, Government has been promoting a policy of passing facilities to those clubs or Associations using them. The contracts put the responsibility of monitoring their usage on the Malta Sports Council. Today more than 70 facilities have been passed to these entities. There are other monitoring responsibilities emanating from different relationships which the Government has with various NGO’s and Local Councils. The Malta Sports Council has very limited executive powers and its powers of carrying out these monitoring duties are very limited.

• Government has embarked on a programme of facility building. In the coming years there will be a need for a structure to coordinate the running of these facilities and establish a policy for their usage.

These are some of the recent development which the Sports Law seeks to address. The proposed Law establishes a number of principles which although have no legal standing, establish the guidelines for the carrying out of various sports activities.

The proposed Law also establishes the Malta Sports Council as a Body Corporate. Eventually the functions currently vested in the Department of Youth and Sports will be taken by the Sports Council. The proposed Law also included provisions which make possible the transfer of personnel currently working with the Department of Youth and Sports to be transferred to the Malta Sports Council.

The Law also establishes the objectives and functions of the Council. During the Consultation phase, various bodies pointed out that the Government’s duties to assist financially the Malta Olympic Committee, the National Associations and other clubs was not included. We have now included such a clause.

The proposed Law also recognizes the Malta Olympic Committee as an indispensable body in the Maltese Sports culture. A definition of the MOC is included. A clause indicating a number of responsibilities as exclusively vesting on the MOC is also included.

The proposed Law provides for a simple procedure for transferring sports facilities to end users. A schedule of all the facilities which are Government owned and used by Sports Clubs will be included as an annex. The Malta Sports Council will be able to pass over those facilities included in the schedule without the need of going to Parliament.

The Law also includes a section which deals with the registration of persons or entities. This section has been extensively changed after the consultation phase. In the White Paper any Association, Club or body carrying out a regular sport activity had to be registered; this has now been changed to those Associations, Clubs or entities which expect financial assistance from Government or which operate a facility passed over from government.

Part VIII of the proposed Law establishes a Dispute Resolution Agency. The format of the Dispute Resolution body has been changed from a Tribunal having investigative and judicial functions to an arbitration board. This change was made following representations that the statutes of most National Associations catered for dispute resolution and that their international affiliations precluded them from seeking external redress

This is briefly an overview of the developments which led to the drafting of this Law and also of what it includes. The consultation phase was an opportune time for fine-tuning. There may still be some suggestions to take on board.

We hope that with the expertise and experience that you represent we can further polish this draft law in order that it fully addresses the need of the local sports community and become an effective tool for promoting further sports in Malta.