Fisheries Minister Furtado set the ball rolling
CM cleared junket of six MLAs to watch World Cup in Brazil by knocking out great Goan footballers
Justified this Rs 89 lakhs spend of public money as an ‘investment’ to study infrastructure and traffic management
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: A proposal put up by former top footballers, to go and see the World Cup was rudely high jacked by three ministers and three MLAs who are now headed to Brazil. The file cleared in almost total secrecy by the Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar is a leaf out of the junket culture of the Congress – criticized by him when he was in the opposition – and now being perpetrated by the BJP.
Official sources said that the file that has been passed by the government was proposed by the Sports Authority of Goa around a month back. The architect of mission Brazil was Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado, who in fact asked the Director, Sports Authority of Goa, Sandeep Jacques to move a file.
The officially stated purpose was to study how traffic arrangements were done for the World Cup. This movement officially edged out genuine footballers who have done Goa proud like Brahmanand Sankhwalkar and Bruno Coutinho.
I am still optimistic, said Sankhwalkar after the news that he was not in the select team of “experts” to Brazil reached him. “I have been in touch with Bruno (referring to Arjuna Awardee former ace footballer Bruno Coutinho) for 6 months on this,” he said, even as he put the trip in perspective – that everybody would be going to Brazil to watch the World Cup and it was difficult to believe that it could be a study trip.
According to Sankhwalkar he had written to the government much earlier saying that in case there is a delegation going to Brazil, then his name could be considered.
“I am hurt. No reason given for why my name was dropped. I am not just any footballer, I am an Arjuna Awardee,” Bruno Coutinho, ex-captain of Indian football team told media, adding, “It is hurtful that his name was in the file but later changed with a new list proposed by the sports minister.”
“This junket is only for those who want to displace him. This is wasteful expenditure of the exchequers money. We strongly condemn this.” Goa State Congress Committee president John Fernandes told media.
The chief minister has termed the junket as “an investment of the State government which has declared the soccer as a State sports.”
He said that the delegation is going to see how a mega event is conducted and how crowd is controlled for such events and how stadiums are built and that the government could not send bureaucrats as a part of the team as executive director of Sports Authority of Goa is on long leave and government can’t spare the sports secretary.
We are looking at this as an investment. Goa has declared football as a State sports. The delegation which is approved by the State government has MLAs who are actually footballers. Recently, we held Lusofonia Games which had Brazil as a participating country. The current trip is a continuation of the organisation of Lusofonia Games – Manohar Parrikar
I do not pay lakhs of taxes for ministers to go on junkets and they can bloody well afford it so should go with their own money – Senior BJP MLA who refused to be named
If I want to see World Cup football, I’ll go with my own money – Vishnu Wagh, Agassaim MLA
