PRESS RELEASE BY THE MINISTRY FOR EDUCATION, SPORT, YOUTH, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION The Authority for Integrity in Maltese Sport (AIMS) announces the appointment of Kevin Azzopardi as its new Chief Executive Officer following a public call

Kevin Azzopardi has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Authority for Integrity in Maltese Sport (AIMS) following a public call.

Mr Azzopardi brings along thirty years of experience in Maltese sport through the various leadership roles that he has held. Having graduated as a Physical Education Teacher at the University of Malta in 2002 and taught the subject for 12 years at Mtarfa Boys Secondary School and Stella Maris College, he went on to being appointed as Education Officer (Physical Education & Sport) within the Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation in 2014. Mr Azzopardi led a complete overhaul in this sector that now enjoys national priority status and was mainly responsible for the National Sport School, the Sport Career Development Programme and more recently, the Malta School Games.

He also holds a Master's degree in Comparative Euro-Mediterranean Education Studies and is currently carrying out doctoral research related to the sociocultural identity that popular and traditional sport gives to zaltese towns and villages within the Institute for Maltese Studies at the University of Malta.

Mr Azzopardi was a football referee for 18 years including at international level followed by four years as Director of Refereeing at the Malta FA as well as a UEFA Referee Observer. He also served as Referee Development Officer at Northumberland FA, UK while since 2021 he occupied the post of Secretary General of the Maltese Olympic Committee where he was instrumental in the organisation of the highly successful Games of the Small States of Europe that were held in Malta in 2023 and also played a key role in Malta and Gozo winning the bid to host the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2027. Mr Azzopardi has also been instrumental in Gozo becoming a member of the International Island Games Association.

Within the Maltese Olympic Committee, Azzopardi was also Malta's sole representative in relation to Sport Integrity matters when dealing with the Olympic Movement Unit on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions within the International Olympic Committee.

The Ministry for Education congratulates Kevin Azzopardi on this appointment, while wishing him success in his work within AIMS.