Waterpolo Clubs fire back at D’Amato… Sirens, Mscala, San Giljan do not sign statement

Thursday, November 25, 2010, 0:08

Otters ASC,  Sliema  ASC, Neptunes  WPSC, Exiles ASC, Ta Xbiex ASC, and Club  IASIS have sent the below statement to the local press to rebut once again Remy D’Amato’s explanations which were first published in the media prior to his official resignation from the post of General Secretary of the ASA.

It is understood that the Clubs above, together with ex ASA President Robbie Ebejer, have opted to send in a Press statement rather than facing the media in a Press Conference which was originally called for what could have been an uneasy situation for some individuals who would have been faced with direct questions from the editor of this website and other journalists that have followed the ASA’s administration issue so far.

Sirens, San Giljan, Marsaxlokk and Marsascala opted not to be participant in this statement.

Entire Clubs’ Statement below:

Statement by proponents of vote of no confidence in the ASA General Secretary in answer to his email dated Monday 15th November 2010.

Reference is made to the above mentioned email that the ASA’s General Secretary Remy Damato circularized to the association’s membership just a few hours after having decisively lost a no confidence vote during an EGM called for the purpose by a significant number of participating waterpolo and swimming clubs.

The title of Mr Damato’s lengthy mail – L-Ahhar Kapitlu (The last chapter) would have led one to believe that this, in effect, constituted an admission of his defeat and announcement of his resignation. Alas, subsequent events have proved this assumption incorrect as only during the ASA Council meeting held on Monday, did the ASA receive a confirmation that Mr. Damato had resigned from his post. His  mail therefore, is to be viewed as nothing else but an attempt to ‘justify’ his actions over the past year by shifting the blame for their disastrous consequences onto all and sundry. These include his colleagues on the ASA Executive, the administrative secretary, the ex President of the association, the President of Neptunes WPSC and the Association’s Council members.

The serious and often unfounded accusations made against various individuals included in the above list will, most probably be answered by these individuals themselves during the forthcoming ASA Annual General Meeting, and this statement will restrict itself to answering the generic accusations launched by Mr. Damato as well as the incidents that characterized the just ended waterpolo season.

Riflessjoni personali,

Mr Damato states that it was a very difficult year, as the association in general and himself in particular were undermined by the constant spreading of false and malicious rumours by persons with hidden agendas. He also stated that this sabotage hampered the fruition of the new vision planned for the association by the new administration. Be that as it may, one would have expected Mr. Damato to substantiate his accusations with facts and names rather than resorting to simple innuendo. In the absence of this, one cannot but describe his theories as anything other than suspicions.

Il-kaz Ta Xbiex

In this incident, probably the single most damning one that highlighted his utter ignorance of the competition rules Mr Damato incredibly laid the blame for his debacle at the ex president’s door.

Robbie Ebejer still strong at ASA

Robbie Ebejer, still strong at ASA

He stated that Mr. Ebejer did not lift a finger to try and avoid the incident.

One asks, who’s responsibility was it to provide Ta Xbiex and their opponents Otters with the proper information as to the rules governing the number of foreign players eligible to participate in games? The answer is obvious.

The truth of the matter is that Mr. D’Amato had failed to enter into the rule book such an important and delicate decision taken at a previous AGM regarding this issue and that when he quoted the rules he did so with the outdated ones. How’s that for efficiency and preparedness?

As the saying goes, to err is human but to persist in error is diabolical. Mr D’Amato continued to persist in insisting his initial interpretation was the right one even when faced by numbers of Council members who gave the correct version of the rules.

Il-kaz ta’ San Giljan.

Here Mr D’Amato again tries to lay the blame for another shambles at everyone’s door except his own.

Nobody disputes the fact that it is any club’s responsibility to ensure that the players they field are eligible to do so. However in this case a situation arose where during a Protest Board hearing on a Saturday involving the eligibility of a San Giljan Age group player, the General Secretary was unable to find the registration when it was requested by the Board members and, wonder of wonders, this same player was in possession of his Player ID card in a game on the following Monday.  Another example of Mr. D’Amato’s fabled efficiency perhaps?

Mr. D’Amato berates clubs for submitting loads of players registration forms late in the day thus putting undue pressure on the administration. Perhaps, if he had made better use of the secretarial resource given him instead of completely sidelining her as he did, or adopt the same system when the Executive of the previous administration had authorized him to employ his own son so as to issue the ASA ID Cards in time and in conformity with the existing rules, this issue could have been solved.

As for the administrative secretary’s alleged lack of performance, Mr. D’Amato claims that she was never visible on the pool deck during games. How could she when on the occasion she ventured there during games he arrogantly refused her offer of assistance. Response to the other unwarranted accusations made in the administrative secretary’s regard had best be left to her to answer.

Referees’ appointments

For a person who regularly denied ever having a hand in referees’ appointments Mr. D’Amato certainly did not give this impression in his e mail.

In one breath he states that he rarely was involved in these selections (ftit li xejn indhalt) whilst in the very next sentence he affirms that together with the President he had already decided on who the referee for the KO Final this year would be.

Referees’ appointments are not the secretary’s domain, and should never be, much as Mr. D’Amato’s control driven character would like us to believe. Most Probably the person responsible for the referee’s appointments will also have the opportunity to inform the AGM if Mr. D’Amato did in fact interfere with his duty.

Overseas travel

If any further proof was ever needed of the ex Secretary’s (perhaps not solely) irresponsible behaviour this is amply shown by the cavalier approach used with regard to the utilization of the association’s meager financial resources.

Was it really necessary for two persons to attend the draws for the European Waterpolo Championship Qualifiers earlier in the year ?

Was it necessary to spend so much money for two people to travel to the other end of the world – Uruguay – to attend the FINA 1st World Aquatic Convention .

According to the ex secretary the purpose of the visit was to :-

- Lobby for the Malta hosting of the second world convention (doubtful at best and certainly no money spinner for the Association)

- Meet with watersport equipment manufacturers with regard to ASA needs (Has the ex secretary yet heard of Internet communication ?)

- Hear of other countries’ experiences to be able to utilize them in Malta (Unbelievable).

Mr. D’Amato had led the executive to believe that his whole jaunt to Uruguay would have been sponsored, however the sponsor was never mentioned. The end result was that the association forked out circa euros 5,000 with only U$ 1,300 being eventually recovered from FINA.

And then Mr. Damato has the gall to state that not enough budget was available for the full expense of the national U/19 side’s participation in the Cyprus tournament.  A real case of mistaken priorities if not outright mismanagement.

It-Torca article

The ex secretary tries to give the impression that unnamed conspirators were the cause behind the resignation of ex President Sammut. Mr. D’Amato fails to reveal that it was his incompetence and arrogance that led the majority of the association’s members to insist (on numerous occasions) with the ex president to take drastic action in his regard, to prevent further damage to the association’s already sorry image.

That the ex president failed to see the writing on the wall but continued to defend his secretary’s indefensible position can hardly be blamed on these so called ‘conspirators’.

The truth of the matter is that for all Mr. D’Amato’s self declared undying support for the ex president, it appears that he was already sounding out potential successors to the Presidency before Austin Sammut tendered his resignation.  A case of crocodile tears if ever there was one.

The ex secretary would have everyone believe that the whole affair was orchestrated by Mr. Robbie Ebejer in a bid for him to return to the Presidency. He knew as much as we did that someone else was interested in the post of presidency, and that Mr. Ebejer had publicly made it clear that he was not interested, but was prepared to help the Association at any time. Seeing as his was not among the nominations submitted for election to this post even this fanciful assumption has now been laid to rest.

Mr. D’Amato’s lengthy e-mail begs the question as to whether it is possible that all those members who expressed their disapproval in his tenure are wrong or being led by the nose in all of this?. Can it be that all of them are in the wrong and that it is only he who is right?

To conclude, it is indeed pathetic to note that despite the overwhelming evidence of the association’s members lack of confidence in his regard, Mr. D’Amato still refused to accept reality and do the honourable thing by resigning with the announcement of the vote taken. On the contrary he wrote “for the information of everybody, contrary to in-Nazzjon headlines, I have not yet resigned”

This has left the proponents of the original motion with no other option but to request the Acting President to include ‘The removal of Gen. Secretary’ on the Agenda of last Monday’s Council Meeting.

Otters ASC;  Sliema   ASC; Neptunes  WPSC; Exiles   ASC; Ta Xbiex  ASC;  IASIS;


  1. oliver says:

    Our past must not determine our future. If we are not putting in an effort to save our sport, waterpolo will continue to suffer. Now we should all unite after the new administration to save and protect our dying sport.


    Sportinmalta Reply:

    Waterpolo is not a dying sport I assure you … sandro micallef


    M Reply:

    I agree with oliver and assure you that waterpolo is a dying sport, look at the lack of youngsters, we have some teams wh are unaible year in year out to field a full maltese team of all the same age category, this 3-5 years ago rarely happened.  Same wioth the older ones where a large amount of players who stopped come back or teams are unaible to field strong teams as there isn’t what to fill it with.  

    Sad to say but thats the truth.


  2. hallina cens!!!! says:

    ara kemm taf cens…

    skond is sena l-ohra exiles are the joint third team not 5th….
    il vot ta 14-4 nahseb juri li 7 clubs iridu mod u 2 iridu mod iehor.. interessi u mhux interessi il maggoranza tirbah, nahseb asa trid taghmel li hu ta interess il maggoranza mhux il minoranza ghat tajjeb taghha


    Giljaniz Reply:

    Dont forget that San Giljan had 2 points deducted, thats why thy got the same amount of points of st julians mhux bil mertu tal players ta ;)


    exiles Reply:

    dak tort takom hux… however il klassifika hekk tghid!!!!

    u il players intihom mertu ta ghax fl-ewwel sena tahhom fil firsdt rebhu 3 lobiet
    mentri intom kellkom bzonn 3 snin fil first biex igibu rizultat pozittiv fíktar minn loba 1



    censu Reply:

    andek zball ta qas taf xed tajd. xgejtu s sena lohra 3rd?? san giljan kellom 2 pts imnaqqsa u xorta gew 3RD? BIS SERJETA?!!! ssegwi waterpolo int?? qas taf li gew 4th. u apparti dan kollu mux fil kalssifika ed nghid jien. BHALA KLABB . fl opinjoni tieghi xorta adom snin lura minn sirens u san giljan. san giljan 2 punti mnaqqsa u xorta gew t tielet . dawn huma l spettaturi tal waterpolo malti? qas jafu kif intemmet il klassifika?


    exiles Reply:

    censu naqa lezzjoni ta ingliz
    meta tghid joint third tfisser li iggib l-istess punti ta min jigi qabblek…

    naf sew li san giljan gew it tieni bil goal average, u naf sew li san giljan naqqsulom il punti imma iswed fuq abjad hekk jjghid


    exiles Reply:

    naf sew li giljan gew it tielet ridy nghid ax malajr tghidli li qas biss naf min gie it tieni

  3. maus says:

    Censu jew Jonny, int min int:  Nahseb li int zbaljat fl-asserzjoni tieghek li Matthew u Andrew inkwetati ecc, ecc. Mkien fil-kumment taghhom ma jghidu hekk. Barra min hekk min qed idahhallek dawk il-flieles kollha f’mohhok?


    censu Reply:

    vincent all ezatti jekk mux censu hatt ma dahhallil flieles fmohhi , nsegwi fis sajf ed nghid jien . mux veru li
    in nies li imexxu l clubs infexxew fhafna hdura fxulxin? u damato kin il haruf tas sagrificcju ? veru naqbel li l asa kienet farsa fdawn lahhar mux sena ta imma snien u damato kien parti mit tmexxija u amel hafna zbalji ukoll, pero mux wahdu ta! sur sammut ma hawwattx kemm felah . u l clubs kemm ghinu biex jitrangaw laffarijiet? qas xejn….. kulhadd jigbed all interess tieghu . daqqa allenza neptunes san giljan kif kienet sa sentejn ilu issa nqalbet il folja . kulhadd jigbed fejn jaqbillu , u l gid tal waterpolo ingenerali ma jarah hadd . is sahha qeda f idejn il clubs mux fidejn l association . sewwa qed nghid maus?


  4. censu says:

    kemm qed jinkwetaw matthew u andrew ax ma ffirmahix kull min ivvota favur il vot ta sfiducja f damato l stqarrija mahruga minnhom!! qal xi haga daqsekk hazina sandro ax kiteb min ma ffirmahix? dan huwa l mod kif se timxi l asa min issa l quddiem? min ma jcedix al pressjoni ta din lalleanza(neptunes,sliema,exiles) se jigi attakkat u mwarrab? mux bizzejjed dan l sport qed imut mewta naturali se nkomplu noqluh ahna? se jdumu lexiles jinhabbu maz zewg klabbs l kbar fdaqqa jew darba kull wiehed . biex forsi ma jibqawx ankrati bhala l hames team?


  5. Andrew Paris, President Exiles SC says:

    I fully concur with what Matthew has written. This statement was issued by the six clubs who had called the extra ordinary general Meeting in the first place with the vote of no confidence in the General Secretary on the agenda so it is only obvious that the same six clubs should issue this statement together. What we did we did in the interest of the association and I have absolutely no problem answering any question you Sandro or anyone else for that matter wants to put to me. This time however if you ask me a question and I give you a straight answer as I did on TV this Summer I do not expect the General Secretary to call me asking me where I got certain information from as happened this year.


  6. Matthew Bonello. says:

    Sandro, for your information and that of your readers, the press conference was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, but once the resignation of the ex-Secretary was handed in, it was decided to tone things down and to issue the statement instead. You are misleading your readers by suggesting that the press conference was cancelled because any of the clubs or individuals that represent them, would have been “uneasy” when faced by any questions, as if any of us had anything to hide from, or to fear!! If you have any questions to ask, please do so, and you will get all the answers you require, from me definitely, and I would suppose, from the other signatories also. Furthermore, the vote of 14-4 against the outgoing secretary, considering that each club has two votes, clearly shows that only 2 clubs voted for him(and everybody knows who they are), so if you are by any chance trying to give the impression, that the 4 clubs who did not sign this letter ,were in favour of Remy D’Amato, you are also mistaken- as the vote clearly shows.


Leave a comment