Is the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) serious about shifting the National Games from Goa and giving them to Chhattisgarh? Is it also possible that the State may be imposed a penalty of Rs 10 crore for failing to host the Games as scheduled? The IOA secretary general is on record stating that talks with the Chhattisgarh government have already begun and that a decision on shifting the Games will be taken in the coming days, and on the penalty. It suddenly appears real that it is not postponement of the Games that will be but scratching Goa as the host State. And just what is Goa’s reaction to this? The Goa Olympic Association (GOA) merely exudes confidence that the Games will be held in the State.
The IOA statement that it appears Goa lacks in commitment is a telling commentary on the state of affairs here. Yes, there have been delays in hosting the Games, and the infrastructure for the Games is far from complete. Goa has been given ample time to get the stadia and other infrastructure ready, with enough leeway given by the IOA, with even a Games Village being waived off and allowing Goa to put up the athletes in hotels. The national media has even called it a farce in the making when it was revealed that some events would have to be held outside the State. But somehow, Goa still managed to mess it up for itself.
If there are still doubts that there is a failure of governance in the State, then this should clear them. Goa was well aware, when the dates of March-April 2019 were decided, that the period would coincide with the Lok Sabha election campaign, the school and college exams and so lead to a dearth of volunteers. This realisation didn’t dawn upon the State only in January this year, and when it wrote to the IOA on this it was only stating the obvious. This shows the lack of planning and anticipating future events on the part of the State government. If the State is shamed by the Games being taken away, it has only itself to blame.
Though GOA is confident that the Games will be held in the State, the fact that the IOA is even talking of shifting them is a loss of face for the State and the local Olympic association. Let’s get one thing straight – Goa and GOA were just not prepared to host the Games in March-April this year. With two months to go to the Games, the State should have already been in the final preparatory stages. Instead we are staring at stadiums that are still not complete, and showing signs of taking more than two months to be completed. The decision to postpone the Games was taken some 60 days before the scheduled start of the Games. Are we expected to believe that other States were not already preparing their contingents for the Games? Taking a decision to postpone the Games at such a late hour, is reflective of the manner in which sports is treated in the country.
However, the IOA decision of shifting the Games also appears sudden and unjustified. When in Goa the IOA secretary general has appeared to sympathise with the local sports body and agree to a postponement, but immediately on arriving in Delhi, there was a change to the narrative and the possibility of shifting the Games was voiced out loud. At the National level Goa does not fare well in sports. The State has never figured in the top 10. In the 2015 Games it had stood at 24th position with just one gold medal. The State does not get the respect it deserves in the sporting arena, and these postponements are not helping it build its case for that respect.
