James Zahra and Katryna Esposito will not be representing Malta at the Andorra GSSE following a decision taken by the Games technical meeting to scrap the categories where Malta’s top judokas take part in.
In a statement, the Malta Judo Federation said that it deeply regrets this decision that left Team Malta without a judoka in a GSSE contingent for the first time ever.
Esposito won gold for Malta in the 2023 Malta GSSE in the -48kg category while Zahra had secured a silver medal in the same edition in the -60kg class.
Both judokas were expected to be strong medal contenders for Malta in Andorra.
Zahra, ranked 73rd in the world in the -60 kg category, and Esposito, ranked 77th in the -48 kg category, had recently brought pride to Malta by winning gold medals at the European Small Nations Championships in Cyprus last November.
Zahra followed this with a stunning 12-second victory over the UAE champion to clinch bronze at the World Judo Tour in Perth, while Esposito secured a silver medal in Algiers and previously made history with Malta’s only bronze at the Commonwealth Games.
“However, due to irregular last-minute changes during the GSSE technical meeting, their categories were abruptly cancelled, despite meeting all participation criteria at the official entry stage,” the Malta Judo Federation said in a statement.
“While most sports at the GSSE permit two athletes per category, judo is restricted to nine athletes across seven weight classes, with a requirement of at least five athletes from three countries per category.”
Initially, both the -48kg and -60kg categories had valid entries from multiple nations, the MJF contended.
“But during the final technical meeting, errors were discovered in two National Olympic Committees’ (NOC) submissions,” the statement said.
“Despite the official entry deadline having passed, GSSE officials allowed on-the-spot corrections, giving those NOCs the choice of which athletes to remove to comply with entry limits.
“In a regrettable turn, they opted to remove the entries in Zahra’s and Esposito’s categories, resulting in the complete cancellation of their respective categories.
The Malta Judo Federation said that it strongly believes that categories validated at the start of the technical meeting should have been protected.
Unfortunately, the decision was upheld, denying two of Malta’s elite athletes the opportunity to compete on a prominent international stage, it added.
“Despite this setback, Zahra and Esposito have received official confirmation from the International Judo Federation of their qualification for the prestigious World Championships – a testament to their ranking within the top 100 athletes globally,” the Malta Judo Federation said.
“Remaining resolute, they are now shifting their focus to Budapest this June, where they will once again represent Malta with pride and determination.”
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