The Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs informed the Goa Legislative Assembly that the State wants to postpone the National Games scheduled in November this year in view of the forthcoming Assembly elections. Goa had been bidding for the National Games since 2004 but their bid was successful only in 2008 and it signed the host city contract with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for the Games in 2011. According to IOA, Goa was to host the Games after Jharkhand and Kerala. Jharkhand hosted the Games in 2011 while Kerala were the hosts in 2015.
While Goa had eight years to prepare for the Games, it has done precious little in terms of infrastructure creation, except for that which was built for the Lusofonia Games held in 2014, and whose few construction bills are still lying unpaid. While the Games are due to be held in November 2016, Goa is now attempting to get it postponed as its funds have dried up.
Postponing the National Games is not new in Indian sports. Kerala hosted the last edition in early 2015 after a five-year delay but the IOA General Assembly which met in Guwahati last December took a serious view of this and decided to impose a fine of Rs 10 crore on states that delay staging the Games after confirming the dates.
The decision of the State government to defer the Games has not gone well with sports enthusiasts as well as with the IOA. While sports lovers have questioned this government’s commitment to host the prestigious National Games, IOA is convening an executive committee meeting next month to decide Goa’s fate following it’s volte-face over hosting the Games. In short the IOA wants to take away Goa’s rights of hosting the Games. IOA General Secretary Rajeev Mehta has questioned Goa’s intentions saying that if Goa cannot host the National Games, they should not have bid for it. Why leave sportspersons in the lurch? He has further said that Chhattisgarh will host the National Games in 2017 and Uttarakhand in 2018, as they have already committed to hosting them.
On another note, is Goa really interested in hosting Games or are the elections just an excuse?
What could be holding Goa back is the financial crunch. The infrastructure creation and up-gradation/refurbishment is estimated to cost Rs 286.15 crore apart from which expenditure on temporary venues set up is estimated at about Rs 10 crore, the organisation of the Games at about Rs 180 crore and housing for the athletes at about Rs 150 crore, the total expenditure of the Games is estimated at about Rs 626.15 crore. The State received Rs 97.80 crore from the Central Government in 2011 and another proposal for additional financial assistance has been forwarded to the Union Sports Ministry.
Major infrastructure development works to be taken up include laying of tennis courts at Campal, development of squash courts at Chicalim Sports Complex, indoor hall and outdoor playfield at Poinguinium, sports complex at Navelim, sports complex at Sawalwada, hockey facility at Peddem, and a few other areas such as Miramar, Dona Paula, have been shortlisted for creation of temporary overlays for hosting a few events.
But does Goa have the funds to spare for the Games? That’s a million dollar question. If the Centre denies financial help for the Games, the only other option could be borrowings, which could be suicidal at this juncture. The State government should intervene and inform the Centre that without financial aid it would be impossible to host the Games on schedule. Even if the Centre agrees to meet the expenses, it would be a race against time to create the required infrastructure within the next seven months, especially as Goa is staring at elections in the coming 11 months.
