Sport in Malta

Sports in Malta include association football, basketball, athletics, rugby, tennis, cycling, and others.

Football

Main article: Football in Malta

The Ta' Qali National Stadium is the home ground of the Malta national football team

Association football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Malta. The national stadium is called Ta' Qali Stadium. The national football team has won several matches over big opponents that reached the final phases in World Cups, such as Belgium and Hungary. Recently a large number of football grounds have been built throughout the island. The top football league in Malta is called the Maltese Premier League, and consists of 14 teams. Futsal is also very popular.

Waterpolo

Main article: Water polo in Malta

Water polo is also very popular in Malta. The Malta men's national water polo team has achieved some great results against strong teams, and has competed in the Olympics twice. Maltese clubs participate in the European Club competitions organised by LEN, are seen as being in the top 10 water polo leagues in Europe.

Boċċi

Boċċi is the Maltese version of the Italian game of bocce, French pétanque and British bowls. Other than certain differences in rules and the ground on which the game is played, one of the most obvious differences between Maltese boċċi and foreign equivalents is the shape of the bowls themselves which tend to be cylindrical rather than spherical in shape. Many small clubs (usually called Klabbs tal-Boċċi in Maltese) can be found in Maltese and Gozitan localities, and are usually well-frequented and are quite active on a local and European level. Even the emigrants to Canada, Australia, and The United States have taken the game with them and now forms an important part of their social scene.[1]

Rugby

Main articles: Rugby league in Malta and Rugby union in Malta

Rugby union is played in Malta, In October 2018 the national men's team was ranked 39th in the world. They have recently been achieving success, defeating teams including Sweden, Croatia and Latvia. In 2018, Malta achieved its largest win against Andorra, that of 89-3.[2] As of 2016 Malta Rugby Union had 2,480 registered players.[3]

Rugby league is also played, primarily due to return migration of Maltese Australians bringing it back with them. In July 2018, the national men's team was ranked 18th in the world. The national team are known as the Malta Knights, and boast players currently playing in the English Superleague such as Jarrod Sammut, Jake Mamo, the most famous player to come from Malta would be former South Sydney Rabbitohs, Mario Fenech. In 2016 Malta Rugby League had 285 players, with the large majority based in Australia.[4]

Motorsport

Motorsport includes drag racing represented by the Malta Drag Racing Association, with recent high ranking Maltese dragsters in official FIA European championships. There is also autocross (ASMK), hill climb (Island Car Club), motocross, karting and banger racing championships.[5]

Snooker

Malta also hosts a snooker round, the Malta Cup, which as of 2008 became a non-ranking event. In 2008 Malta's Tony Drago was a member of a victorious European Mosconi Cup team, which was played in Portomaso, Malta. Claudio Cassar was World Blackball Champion in 2014.

Boxing

Boxer Jeff Fenech is of Maltese descent.[6] Recently contact sports such as Boxing and Kickboxing have become increasingly popular.

Hockey

Main article: Maltese National Hockey League

Maltese National Hockey League is the official field hockey league in Malta, with 5 teams participating.

Watersports

Malta is a good place for surfing and offers a lot of different surf spots.[7] During winter time most of the beaches transform into surfer hangouts.

Along with other sports, tennis is a popular activity in Malta and Gozo. The islands offer a wide range of options for both beginners and elite players. Clubs are spread out across Malta and games are being played on a regular basis all year around.

There are over 1,200 rock climbing routes in Malta. The island offers a mixture of both trad climbing and sport climbing and also offers a good variety of bouldering and deep water soloing. The geography and small size of the island makes the climbing easily accessible. The sport is growing in popularity with local communities, as well as tourists and visitors.

List of sports teams in Malta

Number	Locality	Football	Futsal	Waterpolo	Boċċi	Handball	Basketball	Rugby Union	Athletics	Regatta	Darts	Billiards	Volleyball	Hockey
1	Valletta	Valletta F.C. Valletta St. Paul's Valletta Stars Rovers United Valletta St. Pauli	Valletta Futsal Club	Valletta United W.P.C.	St. Paul's Marsamxett			Valletta Lions (defunct)		Marsamxett Valletta			Valletta V.C.
2	Mdina	Mdina Knights F.C.	Mdina Knights Futsal
3	Attard	Attard F.C.	Attard Futsal (defunct)
4	Balzan	Balzan F.C.	Balzan Futsal (defunct)										Balzan V.C.
5	Vittoriosa	Vittoriosa Stars F.C.								Birgu
6	Birkirkara	Birkirkara F.C. Birkirkara St. Joseph Mrieħel Devon Fleur-de-Lys	Mrieħel ESS		Birkirkara Boċċi Club	Aloysians H.C.		Birkirkara Alligators (defunct)	Birkirkara St. Joseph				Aloysians V.C. Birkirkara V.C. Fleur-de-lys V.C.
7	Birzebbugia	Birżebbuġa St. Peter's F.C. Birzebbugia Tigers		Birzebbuga A.S.C.	Birżebbuġa					Birżebbuġa	Birżebbuġa St. Peter BC Birżebbuġa Cox
8	Cospicua	St. George's F.C. Cospicua Dynamos			Cospicua Boċċi Club	De La Salle H.C.				Bormla
9	Swieqi	Swieqi United F.C.	Swieqi United Futsal Swieqi United U-21 Futsal			Swieqi Phoenix H.C.		Overseas RUFC					Swieqi Phoenix V.C.
10	Lija	Lija Athletic F.C.			Lija Boċċi Club
11	Floriana	Floriana F.C. Floriana AFC			Klabb Boċċi Floriana		Floriana Basketball Club				Floriana Ajax Floriana Bocci Club			Young Stars Hockey Club
12	Sliema	Sliema Wanderers F.C.		Sliema ASC Exiles S.C.				Stompers RFC			Sliema Inter DC			Sliema Hotsticks Hockey Club
13	Gżira	Gżira United F.C.					Gżira Athleta
14	Paola	Hibernians F.C. Paola Kordin	Hibernians Futsal (defunct) Paola Downtown Futsal Club (defunct)				Hibernians Basketball
15	St. Julian's	Melita F.C.	Melita Futsal (defunct)	San Giljan ASC Neptunes WPSC
16	Senglea	Senglea Athletic F.C.								Senglea	Senglea Conquest
17	Mosta	Mosta F.C. Mosta Vikings AFC Mosta Gunners	Mosta Futsal Club ZC Excess Futsal Club (defunct) (Bidnija)		Mosta Boċċi Club						Mosta Horseshoe
18	Naxxar	Naxxar Lions F.C.	Naxxar Motors Futsal (defunct)				Starlites
19	Ħamrun	Ħamrun Spartans F.C.	Ħamrun Spartans Futsal (defunct)								Ħamrun Education Ħamrun Bayern
20	St. Paul's Bay	Sirens F.C.		Sirens ASC							Bugibba New Sun City Bugibba Whyte Harte
21	Qormi	Qormi F.C. Qormi Eagles	Qormi Futsal Club		Qormi Boċċi Club St. Sebastian Boċċi Club			Kavallieri Rugby Football Club Qormi Wasps			Qormi Hockey			Qormi Hockey Club
22	Rabat	Rabat Ajax F.C.												Rabat Hockey Club
23	Żebbuġ	Żebbuġ Rangers F.C.			Żebbuġ Boċċi Klabb
24	Marsa	Marsa F.C. Marsa St. Michael's								Marsa	Marsa Top Gun RS Marsa St. Michael
25	Msida	Msida St. Joseph F.C.	University of Malta Futsal		Msida Boċċi Club
26	Żejtun	Żejtun Corinthians F.C.									Żejtun Domus Żejtun Lacci
27	Pembroke	Pembroke Athleta F.C. St. Andrews F.C.	Luxol St. Andrews Futsal Club Luxol Futsal Team B				Luxol							White Hart Hockey Club
28	Marsaskala	Marsaskala F.C.	Marsaskala Futsal Club	Marsaskala SC										Marsascala Heat Hockey Club (Juniors)
29	Gudja	Gudja United F.C.									Gudja PO's Bar
30	Tarxien	Tarxien Rainbows F.C.
31	Fgura	Fgura United F.C.									Fgura PL Club
32	Żurrieq	Żurrieq F.C. Żurrieq Wolves	Żurrieq Futsal Club								Żurrieq F.C.
33	Kalkara	Kalkara United F.C.								Kalkara	Kalkara St. Joseph
34	Siġġiewi	Siġġiewi F.C.									Siġġiewi Ta' Klaricc
35	Marsaxlokk	Marsaxlokk F.C.		Marsaxlokk ASC
36	Qrendi	Qrendi F.C. Qrendi Sparrows AFC						Falcons RFC
37	Mqabba	Mqabba F.C.									Mqabba St. Mary BC Mqabba Tal-Gilju
38	Kirkop	Kirkop United F.C.
39	Santa Luċija	Santa Lucia F.C. Santa Lucia Falcons AFC
40	Mellieħa	Mellieħa S.C.
41	Mtarfa	Mtarfa F.C.					Depiro
42	Mġarr	Mġarr United F.C.
43	Dingli	Dingli Swallows F.C.
44	Għargħur	Għargħur F.C.
45	San Ġwann	San Ġwann F.C.	San Ġwann Futsal (defunct)
46	Pietà	Pietà Hotspurs F.C.	Pietà Hotspurs Futsal (defunct)
47	Ta' Xbiex	Ta' Xbiex F.C.		Ta' Xbiex WPC
48	Santa Venera	Santa Venera Lightnings F.C.
49	Luqa	Luqa St. Andrews F.C.	Luqa St. Andrews Futsal (defunct)
50	Għaxaq	Għaxaq F.C.
51	Żabbar	Żabbar St. Patrick F.C.	Żabbar St. Patrick Futsal (defunct)
52	Xgħajra	Xgħajra Tornados F.C.

See also

• Malta Olympic Committee
• Maltese National Regatta
• Maltese National Badminton Championships
• Malta Sailing Federation
• Handball Malta and Malta Handball Association
• Aquatic Sports Association of Malta

References

1. "Top Sports in Malta – Traditional and Most Common". Welcome Center Malta. Welcome Center Malta. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
2. "Malta blitzes Andorra to go unbeaten this season". Malta Today. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
3. "Global Participation in Rugby". Retrieved 11 July 2019.
4. "Annual Report 2016" (PDF). Rugby League European Federation. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
5. "Motorsport Malta – Racing News, ESPN F1, Drifting, Drag and more". Motorsport Malta. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
6. "Jeff Fenech". Youngvictorboxing.com.au. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
7. "Surf Malta". Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2018.