The Goan football administrators – Goa Football Association President Elvis Gomes and former President Savio Messias opined that it’s not one single but multiple reasons for the downfall of the ‘Beautiful game’ in the State.
According to the GFA chief, the failure to establish robust football ecosystem has been one of the major causes for the blip in the State football.
“We have failed to establish a robust football ecosystem that would sustain the game by meeting the various challenges faced as a result of the changing times. Starting with the national federation sitting in Delhi that has got into a habit of springing surprises every passing year, to our village traditional clubs that are struggling due financial constraints, grooming of talent has taken a hit,” Elvis said.
“Our top flight clubs that were providing the cherished platform to our players, said goodbye to the I League due to problems posed to them by the Federation. The Govt failed to recognise the contribution of these clubs that were providing career opportunities to young Goan players and failed to support them,” he expressed.
The GFA head further added that the government failed to extend support during the crises for the clubs.
“The sport is growing all over. Our 200 odd clubs are still holding fort and they need support in these tough times being the cradles of development that expose players to competition. That support has not been forthcoming even from the Govt. that brags about football as the official sport. We are in the process of appealing to our Goan diaspora for support,” Elvis Gomes concluded.
However the former GFA chief Savio Messias said that there is a need of a proper administrative structure to deal with this issue.
“The GFA needs full time administrators / professionals to run the association. We need dedicated and hard working people to run various departments like coaching, youth development, grassroots, referring, competitions etc.” said Savio Messias.
He further said that the State sport has lost its charm after it has been commercialised by different forces and there is a need of foreign expertise to help the state,
“Football is no longer just a hobby or passion, it’s an industry. Goa was a dominant state in the country for many years. One could easily say it was the highest ranked state in the country. We needed to continue with foreign expertise to help us develop further. Goa was winning national championships and the I-League on a regular basis sometimes without a break. Goan players and teams dominated the national scene,” he concluded.
