Malta’s top judokas barred from GSSE in Andorra after late technical decision

Malta’s two top athletes, James Zahra and Katryna Esposito, have been barred from competing at the 2025 Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) in Andorra, following a controversial last-minute decision during a technical meeting that led to the cancellation of their weight categories.

This marks the first time Malta will have no judo representation at the GSSE, despite Zahra and Esposito being among the top judokas in their categories internationally and strong contenders for medals.

Zahra, currently ranked 73rd in the world in the -60kg category, and Esposito, ranked 77th in the -48kg division, had recently brought home major international success. Zahra won gold at the European Small Nations Championships and followed it with a bronze at the World Judo Tour in Perth, defeating the UAE champion in just 12 seconds. Esposito claimed silver in Algiers and previously made history for Malta by securing the country’s only judo medal at the Commonwealth Games.

Their exclusion comes after irregular changes were permitted during the final GSSE technical meeting, where errors in entry submissions by two National Olympic Committees (NOCs) were corrected after the official deadline. To comply with participation limits, those NOCs were allowed to withdraw athletes at the meeting and chose to remove their entries from Zahra's and Esposito’s categories. This led to the complete cancellation of both the -60kg and -48kg divisions, which no longer met the minimum participation criteria.

Under GSSE judo rules, events require at least five athletes from three countries per category. The Malta Judo Federation stressed that both weight classes had met the criteria at the time of official entry and strongly condemned the retrospective changes.

“̌The Malta Judo Federation 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,” the federation said in a statement.

Despite the setback, both athletes have received official confirmation of their qualification for the upcoming World Judo Championships in Budapest this June, based on their global top-100 rankings.

The federation added that Malta’s emerging judo team continues to grow under the leadership of Italian coach Francesco Aiello, and reaffirmed its commitment to supporting its athletes and promoting the sport nationally and internationally.

The GSSE, held every two years, brings together athletes from Europe’s smallest nations and has long been an important event for Malta’s sporting community.