ALLAN D’CRUZ &
LISVAN RODRIGUES
PANJIM: Goa is known for football and over the years it has proved its worth at the national and international level. But sadly the State which has declared football as its official sports has fallen behind in terms of developing infrastructure and quality grounds.
Almost every Goan village boasts of an independent ground for the locals and for their village teams. Ironically the top level teams however fail to have their own training ground.
Despite having grounds in every corner of the State, the real question is –are these grounds in playing conditions? Are they technically equipped? Do they possess basic infrastructure and facilities?
One such problem has been raised by the clubs over the Goa Velha ground.
Field turned into ground!
The muddy and dusty ground, which was originally a field, has hosted most of the Goa Football Association Ilhas Zone matches in various division league matches, including the ongoing GFA First Division League.
“This is the only ground in Ilhas zone which is in playable conditions as Batim ground is smaller to host eleven a side matches, while Taleigao, St Cruz and the Goa University grounds are in bad conditions,” P Gonsalves, a resident from Goa Velha said.
“The ground needs attention. The authority concerned should look into this matter and develop a standard ground in the village for the locals and the youngsters,” said a youth of the village.
Despite organising various major GFA league matches and inter-village tournament, the ground has been termed as a ‘poor ground’ by many top level teams and have refused to put up a show due to its condition and lack of basic amenities for the ongoing GFA First Division league.
Better leagues, better ground
“It is not a ground. It is a field. When we are talking about football development we should start from the base. And we get the teams to play on the field it doesn’t solve the purpose. We should give right infrastructure for the kids to progress and developed. We should do our planning in advance, said an aggrieved Immaculate Conception SC Paroda President Joe Fernandes.
ICSC Paroda played at the same venue against Goa Velha SC and scored a narrow 3-2 win.
“Despite sending a letter, I compromised and I played on the ground. My players were concerned of the injuries as the ground is in poor state,” he added.
“Considering the safety of the players, despite having grounds in our village I opted for Cuncolim ground as our home ground in the League,” Joe stated.
“The authority should step in check on the base work. The administrators are lagging behind big time in Goan football,” Joe lamented.
Former Salgaocar captain Remus Gomes, who is also part of the Dempo SC Jrs squad in the Second Division League was in opinion that the ground is suitable for the Second and Third Division League matches.
“What better ground the players need, who hardly train? The youngsters playing in the league are mostly working people who hardly train,” he said.
“But when it comes to the First Division league or Professional league, I personally don’t think this ground is suitable to host the matches. The players deserve better ground,” he stressed.
However for SESA FA coach who also registered a fluent 3-0 win against the host at the same venue denied to comment on the ground conditions.
“No comments on the ground. I had an away match. I went there, played my game and walked away with three points,” Ajay Acharya said whose team had earlier requested for change in venue but ended up playing on the same ground.
Swanand Naik, Goa Police player who won 3-1 against Goa Velha at the same venue said, “The ground is in bad shape but we could play there,”
“The authority concerned should step up and look into this matter. I don’t think its GFA’s duty to develop the ground. The club needs a better ground,” he added.
Only option to host matches
Goa Velha Sports Club had opted to play all their home matches at the said venue due to unavailability of better grounds in the neighbouring villages.
“For us the GFA has given option to host the match. The same players which have played inter-village matches on this ground are playing in the GFA league. If they didn’t have complaints then than why they have now? I don’t understand that,” said Iyno D’Souza, Goa Velha SC, general secretary.
Despite receiving many letters seeking change in venue for the First Division matches cause of the poor ground conditions, Iyno said that there hasn’t been any complaint regarding the same from the match commissioners.
“And in case if the ground isn’t good enough, it’s the match commissioner’s duty to give a report to the GFA but this hasn’t happened,” he revealed.
“That is my only ground as we have no other grounds available in our vicinity which are good enough,” Iyno stated.
When brought to the Goa Velha president’s notice regarding the remarks of the ground being called as ‘field’ by few clubs, he added, “I agree this is a field. But we have been playing here for the past 40 years. The ground also hosted various other GFA league matches but none others had complaints about the conditions,”
“For the past 10 years we have been playing in the GFA league and we don’t have a proper ground in this village or in and around Ilhas zone. I don’t have a choice as this is the only ground we have,” Iyno said.
Goa Velha SC have played seven matches at the same venue and lost six and won one.
Local MLA promises to deliver
When contacted St Andre MLA Francisco Silveira said, “We had a meeting with the Chief Minister recently regarding the development of the ground in Goa Velha. We will be going to the Director of Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairds, VM Prabhudesai for the same,”
“I’ll make sure the project which was initiated during my previous term will be completed this time. Within two years we will try and complete the ground at the same venue,” Silveira added.
