A man who loved sports
Lino Bugeja 1930-2017
This past month of January we celebrated the third anniversary of the death of my uncle, Lino Bugeja, a prolific writer and the founder of The Ramblers Malta. Thus I thought it worthy to write an article about his book on sports which he held so close to his heart.
In Lino Bugeja’s book ‘Agon’ he tells us that sports is one of the most beautiful gifts God granted to mankind. Pre-historic man practised sports such as shooting with bows and arrows as a need for defence against wild animals. In the lands of Mesapotamia and Babylon, sports used to be practised too. The French Crusaders played a game that was the precursor to tennis. In ancient Greece several sports were practised on the most important sites of Olympia, Nemea, Peloponnesus and the sacred site of Delphi.
Sports left a positive effect on the body and mind. The wellknown author Homer wrote about sporting events. In the Palace of Knossos, in the capital city of Heraklion, Crete, depictions of sporting activities were found on frescoes, vases and various items of pottery. Sporting events included women wearing elegant clothes jumping on bulls. Athletes embraced the Spirit of Agon, where every athlete needed to contest against his opponent. At the time of the Pharaohs, it was important that the King was capable of hunting and participating in sports. Today in the Archaeological Museum of Cairo, we can find sport frescoes, shields and carvings on vases representing swimmers and rowers on the Nile. The kings showed their archery skills. In the tomb of Ramses II, sports drawings and coloured frescoes were found depicting the Pharaoh as an affecionado of horses. People loved athletics, jumps, boxing, marine sports and fighting with sticks on boats. Even children used to participate in sporting events with rings, board games and acrobatic dances.
The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC Inscribed on boards in the Archaeological Museum of Athens we find the names of winners. The games continued until 393 AD when they were stopped by the emperor Theodosius. They used to be held every four years in the small town of Olimpia which became a Pan-Hellenic centre for sports, religion and art. The people would prepare to go beforehand so that nothing could hinder the participation of the athletes and spectators. They also used to hold a music and poetry festival. The participants would arrive a month before to prepare physically and morally in Kalos kagathos, harmony in body and mind. The winners would receive an olive branch and the athlete who won three times would have a statue sculpted of him and placed in the Sanctuary of Olimpia.
Following the ceasing of the games in 393 AD, it was not until 1894 that a French visionary scholar of classics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, re-founded the ancient games. He believed there were three important human stages: work, play and celebration.
Although in the Congress of Sorbonne in Paris in 1894 it was decided that the first Olympic Games were to take place in Athens in 1896, the Greeks wished that the games would always be held in their country, in Athens every four years. However the International Olympic Committee wished that the city in which they were held would change every time so that sport could be promoted worldwide.
The International Olympic Committee outlined a number of values for the games in the Olympia Charter, these relate to education and national solidarity, sporting excellence, fair play and sport for everyone.
Today the Olympic Movement is spread worldwide through the National Olympic Committees (NOC) that exceed 200 people. Malta’s Olympic Committee was set up in 1928 and built on these articles:
• Sport is am educational tool that leaves a positive effect on youths in schools;
• Man reaches his fullness by excelling at his discipline;
• Olympism fosters friendship and a sense of international solidarity;
• The Olympic Games urged participants to carry out all that is noble;
• Olympism is open to everyone without distinction of race, colour and sex;
• The Olympic movement with the Solidarity Movement helps promising athletes to train in specialised training centres outside their country with money raised through television rights;
• Olympic games initiate the cultural aspect linked with the organising country;
• These games promote the spread of sports everywhere.
Each country that embraces these ideals forms part of the Olympic Movement, whose headquarters are situated in Laussanne, Switzerland. Unfortunately, even though our country has been part of the movement since 1928, it has never had a member appointed to the committee. Besides the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee promotes regional games that take place in five Continents. Malta also takes part thanks to two Maltese administrators, Mr Carm Borg, who was president of the Maltese Olympic Committee, and Mr Muscat, who was its secretary. Malta also takes part in the Commonwealth Games, which are held every four years.
In 1951, the International Olympic Committee set up the Mediterranean Games. They chose the Old Town of Alexandria in Egypt to host the first edition of the games, where among the athletes were a young Lino Bugeja and two other university students, George Bonello Dupius and Edward Turner.
The Olympic games of our time are based on those of ancient times, where young people would race up to the altar of the god Zeus to ignite the fire of sacrifice. Today the Olympic flame is lit with the Olympic torch, and stays lit throughout the period of the games. The games start with athletes marching on stage holding their national flags, with Greece leading at the forefront and the host country bringing up the rear. The Olympic anthem, composed by Spiro Samara (1863-1917), is played just as it was played during the 1896 Athens games. The final parade, sees the athletes mixing as a sign of friendship. The games also include other ceremonies such as the medal presentation.
I’d like to thank my late uncle, Lino Bugeja, for the important part he played in promoting sports in Malta, and I take this opportunity to encourage more people to participate in sports to keep away from the wrong side of life.
The Olympic games of our time are based on those of ancient times where young people would race up to the altar of the god Zeus to ignite the fire of sacrifice