Watch: SportMalta launches European Week of Sport

The sixth edition of the European Week of Sport was launched on Friday by SportMalta, the National Coordinating of the event in Malta, during a press conference at the Kirkop Sport Complex in the presence of Parliamentary Secretary for Sport Clifton Grima.

Launched in 2015, the European Week of Sport was created in response to the worsening inactivity crisis. Despite sport and physical activity substantially contributing to the well-being of European citizens, the level of physical activity is currently stagnating and even declining in some countries.

For this reason, the European Week of Sport was created to bring awareness of how important an active lifestyle is for everyone. 

“Regardless of who we are and what we do, even slight increases in regular, physical activity can have a profound impact on our long-term health,” SportMalta said in a statement.

“The week is designed to give people across the world a springboard into being active.”

SportMalta CEO Mark Cutajar said that this year’s extenuating circumstances have made the week more necessary than ever before. 

“Earlier this year, SportMalta responded by developing the #BeActiveAtHome campaign,” Cutajar said.

“The campaign promoted ideas and resources for exercising and physical activity during 2020’s unprecedented events. We therefore aim for 2020’s #BeActive campaign to reach more people than ever.”

Cutajar said that SportMalta will focus this year on three days of events and on four topics – sport, fitness, workplace and outdoor. 

On September 18 and 19, the main national event will happen at the Kirkop Sport Complex.

The event will focus on a number of team and individual sport competitions which include football, basketball, volleyball, weightlifting, judo, mini moto, go karting, snooker, line dancing, gymnastics, badminton, table tennis, handball, table football, mini polo, wheelchair basketball, drag racing, go karts, eSport, and indoor rowing. 

SportMalta said there will also be activities organized through Special Olympics Malta.

The BeActive night will be held on September 26 at the Cottonera Sport Complex and will see 20 local personalities battling each other through fitness exercises. 

This event will be transmitted live on TVM 2 on the day at 8.45pm.

Moreover, an official campaign is being launched to promote outdoor activities. 

SportMalta chairman Luciano Busuttil said that the discussion was ongoing with public health authorities to ensure that both events are held in line with public health guidelines. He also thanked SportMalta employees who kept the rhythm and SportMalta commitment to move the nation towards a healthy lifestyle.

On his part, Parliamentary Secretary for Sport Clifton Grima said that SportMalta has the mission and vision to promote a healthy and inclusive Malta. He is proud of what was achieved but this pushes us toward higher goals. 

The Parliamentary Secretary for Sport also spoke about the continuous communication between sports associations, SportMalta, public health and his secretariat so that sport will proceed without hiccups.   

For more information, two official websites are being continuously updated www.maltabeactive.com and www.sportmalta.org.mt