Team Herald
sports@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: VM Prabhudesai, Executive Director, the Sports Authority of Goa, on Thursday, assured that the venues for National Games will be completed well before time as the work for the stadiums has been going on in full swing with the GTCC (Games Technical Conduct Committee) and competition directors already assigned to assess the same.
The Games are scheduled from March 30 to April 14, 2019.
Prabhudesai was addressing the media in the presence of GTCC (Games Technical Conduct Committee) member committee namely Mukesh Kumar (chairman), SM Bali and Dhanraj Choudary at SAG conference hall, Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Taleigao.
“We have drawn a list of things to be adhered to by the competition directors. The directors have started an assessment of the facilities at the new as well as the existing venues. The design part is also been discussed with the engineering team”, he said.
“At certain places the work has been already started while at some venues the work will start in about eight days and which will be completed well before the Games begin,” he added
“There will be a total of 37 events and 35 games with beach handball and beach volleyball as extra events”, he disclosed.
Two events – shooting and cycling – will be held in New Delhi instead of Kerala.
“The two events will be hosted by the State government, only the venue will be the national capital. We have taken the decision as there are better facilities in Delhi compared to Kerala and also the federations hail from the same place, which will help us assist and coordinate in a better way”, he said.
Asked if the Lok Sabha elections would hamper the dates of the Games, Prabhudesai said government is already in the process of written communication with the Election Commission.
“This is pre determined event and is known all over India well before time. The government does not foresee any difficulty. We have also written to the local election commission requesting them to impress upon the Election Commission of India over the dates of the Games”, he informed.
When asked over the revenue aspect over the increase in events from 27 disciplines to 35, Prabhudesai said that the government has examined the situation and only then acceded to the demands of the Indian Olympic Association.
“At the initial stage the government was not ready for it because of logistical and extra expenditure. It was only after the IOA and GTCC officials convinced the Goa government that we have considered decision to increase the number of events”, he disclosed.
“Inclusion of these games will also help in promotion and the main objective behind IOA insisting on inclusion of the game is simply to ensure promotion”, he added.
Wushu, Rugby, modern pentathlon, lawn ball, billiards and snooker are the newly included games.
On the expenditure issue Prabhudesai disclosed the budget for the Games is around Rs 400 crore which include players’ accommodation, training of state teams, food and transport, ceremonies, medical aid, etc.
“The State has requested Rs 225 crore from the Union government and we have received a positive response for the same. The proposal has already been moved forward to the Minister for Sports and also the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has been pursuing the same with the Union Sports Ministry”, he added.
Mukesh informed that around 4500 players will participate at the National games with the total of 8000 members overall including coach and other staff.
“The committee is satisfied with progress of venues except for the two multi-purpose halls, one at Sawalwada and another at Campal. These are the main venues and are a bit of concern. Now that the rains have stopped we hope that the work goes in full swing”, he said.
Over the accommodation of the athletes, Mukesh said that the hotel will be booked according to the disciplines close to the venues.
A three-day meet of directors of competition convened by the National Games Organising Committee has already commenced wherein directors of Boxing, Hockey, Billiards and Snooker, Fencing, Weightlifting, Table Tennis, Badminton, Baseball, Aquatics, Triathlon, Rugby and Judo attended the meeting along with nodal officers appointed by State Sports Associations.
In the morning session, competition Directors were briefed on venue plans, the requirement of sports equipment, TSR (Timings, Scoring and Results) and competition management requirement, which was followed by venue visits. In the afternoon session, reports on various requirements and specifications were obtained from the Competition Directors and interaction sessions were held.
