Goa is preparing for the forthcoming National Games, to be held later this year with the construction of new stadiums and other facilities. While this is being done spending crores of rupees from the exchequer, the Sports Ministry led by Manohar (Babu) Ajgaonkar has been systematically ignoring or neglecting the achievements of the State’s athletes and sportspersons, for a long time now.
Take the case of young, talented squash player Yash Fadte, who won the prestigious French Junior Open, and created history by becoming one of the very few Indians to win the prestigious championship. The French Junior Open was held at Lille, France from February 20 to 23 and is counted as one of the oldest happening junior squash events. Fadte, 18, and seeded no. 1, emerged triumphant. According to information, Fadte defeated Czech Republic no. 1 and seeded no. 2 for the event, Marek Panachek, 3-1(10-12,11-5,11-4,11-5) in the finals. Winning the French Open title is no mean achievement, a feat not many may have achieved in India. Fadte now has his eyes set on the Junior World Championship.
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Now, while the State is spending crores on the National Games, it isn’t supporting its local talent at all. What is the use of hosting such games when you cannot take care of your rare talent? Such was the State government’s apathy that none of the Directorate of Sports or Sports Authority of Goa officials were even present to welcome the champion on his return at the airport.
Sports Minister Ajgaonkar and SAG Executive Director VM Prabhudesai, have opted to turn a blind eye to Fadte’s achievements, which have brought laurels to the State. What is interesting is that the Fadte don’t even care about this, as the Sports Department officials are operating at the behest of the politicians. It may be recalled that during an Assembly session, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant had promised to provide some financial support to Fadte, but months have gone and there is no aid. Interestingly, the government had earlier sanctioned Rs 23 lakh to one other for an unsuccessful attempt of climbing Mount Everest simply due to political influence. Not only this, the government has also given a grant of Rs 6 cr to just one football club. Injustice right?
Despite the odds, Fadte was fortunate as his on-court achievements were noticed by the squash committee of Mumbai’s prestigious Cricket Club of India (CCI), which embraced the Goan player as one of its own. This allows him access to one of the best training facilities in the country. He has to fly every Saturday to Mumbai and return on Monday for college, since there is no facility for him to practice here. Apart from the Vimson Group that is supporting him, GoSports Foundation, the athlete management company, recently signed Fadte for its ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ programme, which will see it support him monetarily, with equipment, physiotherapy and mentorship.
Now while the government wants to spend hundreds of crores on the National Games infrastructure, opening and closing ceremonies, has it even thought of how many medals the State will win in the Games hosted by them? Nobody seems to have given a thought to this aspect. Leave aside that, the sport of swimming, which many Goan swimmers and divers see as an opportunity to win medals, has also been left in the lurch as the main swimming pool at Campal is closed for renovation for over a year now. With such an attitude, it is widely clear that the government isn’t interested in grooming talent but only wants creation of infrastructure for obvious reasons. The infrastructure will then be left to crumble after the Games end, as seen with the infrastructure created for the Lusofonia Games.
