I am of the belief that sports can be a very powerful and positive force within any society. I am also of the belief that the realm of sport should not be confined to the level of the arena concerned. However any force with a great potential for positive influence also has a similarly great potential for abuse and spoliation. Sport is no exception here and one of the greatest challenges facing sports today, for as far as I am concerned, is money.

No I do not refer to the lack of funds, though having some money is certainly a plus for the development of sport. I refer to the potential for corruption attached to money, especially for as far as the interests riding on games and the trading and claiming of players is concerned. Through money the corrupting structures within many sports may be found to be rooted. A secondary source is egotism. We are all too familiar with this later phenomenon although we may not recognize it. Intense rivalries within sports burn on for years and years, through regattas, football tournaments and firework shows. Some of us just need to feel superior to others so as to feel good about ourselves.

While one can understand that competitive sports are… well… competitive, and that it would be foolish to attempt to take the competitiveness out of competition, and while one can also understand that there are always egos at stake during such competitions, there comes a point when the spice within the mix becomes excessive and ruins the lot. Why is it that sports are not well integrated into society for individuals beyond their teenage years? Why is it that sports in the Maltese Islands are so disjointed from each other? Are sports really that alien to each other?

And why, oh why, do local teams persist with importing foreign nationals from abroad? What is the point of, for example, the Filfla team (and lest there actually exists such a team, the reference is a complete coincidence), winning the local leagues if the squad consists of an array of foreigners and naturalized “locals” with the odd real local inserted for good measure? Is that really a win for Filfla? Is this how far local football will stoop so as to make it beyond the World Cup qualifiers? Teams worldwide do it. This should not be taken to mean that it is the natural thing to do. If the Maltese unconsciously feel that they are not up to the task of competing in soccer then perhaps they should perhaps substitute the sport rather than the national identity of the teams dispatched. How about the other kind of football? I am of the understanding that Malta is doing pretty well, without substituting our boys and girls for imports in the process.

Now I am not saying that no foreign nationals should be allowed to play, but I do not think that the importation of players does anything more than serve the egos of the elite cluster behind the team, and perhaps a few die-hard fans who would rather obtain a hollow victory than a respectable defeat.