3rd LUSOFONIA GAMES

TEAM HERALD

sports@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: The Goa Olympic Association (GOA) president Shripad Naik, MP felt aggrieved that the Games Manual for 3rd Lusofonia Games to be held in November in Goa was not ready upto now.

“We need to send the invitations to the participating nations – Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guine Bissau, Guine Equatorial, Macau (China), Mozambique, Portugal, S Tome e Principe, Timor Leste and Sri Lanka – but in the absence of the Manual, we are handicapped,” stated GOA secretary Gurudatta Bhakta.

“There are events in nine disciplines  – athletics, basketball, football, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, beach volleyball and wushu – and the participating countries need to know each and every detail as they have to make the necessary arrangements. But nothing is clear as yet,” pointed out Bhakta.

Inquiries revealed that the preliminary work was entrusted by SAG to a Goan youngster qualified in sports management from Pune University and the draft submitted to federations for their say. While some federations have responded, others failed to do so. But the main problem is that no daily competition schedule with details of the events, which is the core of the document, has been finalized as yet.

The Manual has also to provide details of medical services and doping control, sports venues with area specifications for training and competition, accreditation and I-cards with accreditation centres, application forms for accreditation, ID and accreditation categories, accommodation with categories and classification, check-in and check-out details, meals, laundry service, protocol, hospitality, flag raising ceremonies, room assignments, hotel facilities for VIPs, technical delegates and sports delegations.

That apart, the problem of issuing visas has not been ironed out out as many countries have no Indian embassies or consular services. Entry and exit procedures, immigration requirements, customs procedures need to be explained in advance, remarked Bhakta.

“We will need thousands of volunteers who can speak Portuguese. These have to be selected, their credentials verified and vetted by Police and then put through training for various job categories. It’s a time consuming process and has to be taken up immediately. That apart, starred hotel accommodation has to be booked on top priority basis and adequate transport arrangements made. Most importantly, the opening and closing ceremonies have to be planned. It’s a massive work, no doubt, but that’s part of the strategic planning which is not known to us,” commented Bhakta.

“We wanted to explore the possibility of inviting IOC president Jacques Rogge and several other top world federation functionaries. It’s not late even now, but without the Manual one cannot simply go ahead. Besides, the issue of identifying and roping in sponsors, Games broadcaster and media facilities need also to be considered. So far, we are not aware about all these mandatory requirements,” summed up Bhakta.

Several association officials involved in the Games were unsure about their specific roles. At the moment, they are busy with the camps for selecting the teams but do not know if they have any other job to be undertaken as far as the organization is concerned. Many of them possess the experience and expertise in the organization of international events, some in India and even abroad, and as such are just looking to be associated with the organizational aspects as they would like to contribute their mite for the sake of Goa.

Another topic being discussed was the non-release of the logo and mascot for the Games. An all-Goa or even all-India contest could have been organized so as to generate interest and create awareness about the event, which also would help in merchandising, many observed. They recalled that when Goa hosted the Nehru Cup football international tournament in Fatorda it was the Goan cat which was associated with the same.

The delay in releasing the Manual was one of the issues that prompted both Shripad and Bhakta to stay away from the Games sports sub-committee.