Subtle yet unfair discrimination

It was not my intention to devote the first part of this week’s column to certain negativity (in fact I was banking to present the second part of the team leadership article I had commenced two weeks ago but will now postpone it for the coming weeks) but last Saturdays’ happenings around the Ta’ Qali area, specifically near the basketball pavilion could not go without comment. In fact I would like to plea to the concerned legal authorities to plan better in the future.

Many are aware that basketball is played week in, week out at the basketball pavilion next to the National Stadium.

Many are also aware that last Saturday, Malta, in my opinion with pride, staged the concert by world famous Italian singer Andrea Bocelli. This concert was hosted at the newly constructed tent in the previous car park behind the Stadium’s Millenium Stand.

I am definitely not against such events, on the contrary may we have many more of these and at that world class level as they not only possibly raise our national cultural level but also market our islands’ image abroad in a positive way.

What I am definitely against and hope that all that happened was maybe through some unforeseen negligence and not fully planned, is that people, driving their vehicles, who wanted to go the basketball pavilion (I am referring to the ninety minutes between 4.45pm and 6.15pm when the games were still going on and I am surely not referring to those who came later, when the games had finished, and tried to park in the whereabouts of the pavilion) were not allowed to do so by the police as they were told that the area was out-of-bounds.

My honest hope is that this will not be repeated if there is to be any future similar event in the same area as this was discrimination towards the people who love our game and come to the pavilion almost every week and had no intention to try to sneak behind the police so as to gain an advantageous parking slot.

May I repeat that I am not against the cordoning off of some areas but this should be done logically, at the right timings and with mature sense as not to create inconvenience to those who technically will not affect and are not affected (at least at that particular time) by the same event.

I was not personally caught in any traffic mishap last Saturday but some other people, who tried to come over to the basketball pavilion, were and had to park far away or even return home.

Unfortunately I was caught in a similar incident some 5 to 6 years ago on a particular Sunday, in April or May, when a B’Kara vs Valletta football game was scheduled and the police decided to cordon off traffic very early.

My intention that day was not to go to the football match but to go to referee a basketball match starting more than 2 hours before the football game. However I was stopped quite far away from the pavilion. Despite my consistent, yet unruly, arguments in trying to explain to the officer in charge that I was a referee and had some sort of basic reason to drive towards the basketball pavilion, the same officer (quite arrogantly) did not want to discuss the matter and threatened to book me if I drove on as I had indicated to do when the temper, albeit not normal, starting rising.

All in all, the incident had a somewhat amusing ending as funnily enough I just turned round, drove a couple of metres, took a couple of side roads and still found myself in front of the basketball pavilion with no police in sight.