PANJIM: Goa Football Association (GFA) on Saturday strongly condemned State government’s Financial Assistance scheme for football clubs qualified for the professional leagues/tournaments recognised and hosted by All India Football Federation (AIFF) and urged the govt to review the same as it is not in the interest of Goan football.
“The scheme is highly ambiguous. It is not at all supporting Goan football but it is supporting the means to run their own club,” GFA President Elvis Gomes said while speaking to the press.
It may be recalled that during the recent budget session Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had introduced a ‘Financial Assistance Scheme’ for football clubs from Goa qualified for the professional leagues/tournaments recognised and hosted by All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Further, the scheme says only those football clubs duly registered and affiliated with GFA and such recognised body like the AIFF shall be eligible to be a beneficiary under this scheme.
The scheme announced by Parrikar has said that three clubs would get Rs 3 crore each and shall be paid through SAG.
“This scheme is a total fraud. If one goes through the scheme one sees that there is a clause which shows that it is tailor made. The scheme says that applications should be sent in a proper format when only two corporate clubs are eligible for the same namely FC Goa and Churchill Brothers FC,” he informed.
“My question is if only two corporate clubs are eligible then why there is a need to ask for a proper format. If the time comes I will challenge this scheme even on my individual capacity,” he added.
“This is clear injustice to all the 200 Goan clubs that are toiling day and night to promote football which is done only on the basis of their passion. There is no help from anybody for these clubs besides even if they (clubs) ask help from the government they do not get any response.”
“Even our professional clubs such as Salgaocar Football Club (60 years old), Dempo Sports Club (40 years) and Sporting Clube de Goa (25 years), besides other clubs which also are very old and have been promoting football are also not eligible for this scheme,” he lamented.
“We had made a letter to the government asking Rs 2 lakh a year as a compensation for each village level club which produces grassroots level players who play in any of the GFA recognised tournaments and also asked not to support corporate clubs but despite of this the government has helped the corporate clubs. This is purely nothing but just a political stunt,” he said.
Elvis further disclosed that a pending amount of Rs 10.15 lakh, spent on the Goa team for Lusofonia Games 2014, which was payable by the government to GFA was also rejected by the Sports Authority of Goa citing a reason that the association had taken two grounds in from 2012 to 2015, namely Nehru Stadium, Fatorda and Tilak Maidan, Vasco.
“By denying this the Goa state team has been punished for winning the gold medal by defeating Mozambique at the Lusofonia Games 2014,” feels Elvis.
“When associations are organising leagues or tournaments which has national importance, is the State not the stake holder. Should the State not make all the provisions for the other nations,” Elvis questioned the SAG.
