Team Herald
MARGAO: If you thought the slight rains on Friday were a hindrance to the unveiling of the FIFA U-17 World Cup trophy here, hold it! You are wrong… Even as the Sports Minister Babu Azgaonkar and Sports Executive Director V. M Prabhudessai were present at the function, in Goa, where football is celebrated as the state sports and out of a population of 1,458,545 as per 2011 census, not more than 15 fans were present for the Big Ticket event.
Azgaonkar was roped in as the 11th hour invitee to do the honours due to the CM’s unavailability to be present for the purpose at the Fatorda Stadium on Friday.
Despite the fans’ poor show at the function, Azgaonkar put up a brave front and said, “Football is the official sport of the state and I’m sure Goans will turn out in large numbers to watch top teams like Brazil, Germany, Costa Rica and others in action at the stadium. Today, is a proud day for all Goans as the official FIFA U-17 World Cup is in our state. I urge all football-loving fans in the state to come and be a part of this amazing experience before the start of the tournament”.
Meanwhile, though reams of newsprint were used in publicising the event and the social media had gone gaga, the show turned out to be “no-show”.
What and why the event went horribly awry are questions that the authorities must address. Was it a lapse on the part of the event management team or was it the lack of interest of the fans?
The function, which was supposed to begin at 3 pm, started only at 5pm and got over in just 15 minutes!
