With hardly six months left for the 36th National Games to begin in the State, there is still
uncertainty whether Goa will host the prestigious multi-sport event on time. Last month,
Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar told the State Legislative Assembly that the government wanted to postpone the event in view of the forthcoming Assembly elections.
The Games were tentatively scheduled to be held from November 5-19, but the State government requested the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to defer the event to later dates. The IOA discussed Goa’s proposal and rejected it at its annual general body meeting and warned that it would be fined Rs 10 crore if the Games are not held on schedule. The State had won the bid for the Games in 2008, after unsuccessfully
bidding for the event for many years and signed the host city contract with the IOA that year. However, Goa had
to wait its turn due to the postponement
of the previous two editions of
the Games -- with Jharkhand hosting
the event in 2011, and Kerala
hosting the 35th edition last year.
But eight years on, the State government
has hardly made any progress
in developing the infrastructure
required for the Games, save
for the stadia that were built for the
Lusofonia Games which were held
in early 2014.
Over a month has passed since the Sports Minister made
a statement seeking postponement of the Games, but the
government has still not announced its plans on holding the
event as per the original schedule. The government may be
confident that eventually the Games would be postponed, but
it needs to be open about its intentions. These are not the government’s
Games but the people’s Games and more so that of
the athletes of this country.
IOA on its part has already drawn up its Plan B and asked
Haryana to fill in for Goa. The Sports Minister of that State has
publicly announced the IOA offer, saying it was ready to host
the Games if it is eventually allotted to them. This is an alarming
situation for Goa. For the State, either the Games are on or
they are not. It really needs to be seen whether the State sticks
to its guns and retains the right to host the Games.
If it does, however, much still needs to be done. The total expenditure
for the Games has been pegged at over Rs 600 crore
and the State government has already received an amount
of Rs 97.80 crore from the Central government. However, the
State has sent another proposal for additional financial assistance
to the Sports Ministry. Also, it is not the best of times for
the State to be spending so much on a sporting event from an
exchequer that is not at an optimum level.
With its funds drying up, the government has to spend on
many infrastructure works across the state for sports like tennis,
squash and hockey besides the temporary infrastructure
for other disciplines. The problem is it’s not just about raising
the infrastructure. It’s about the athletes who will use it. The
government, if it does manage to convince IOA and retain the
Games, needs to ensure that it doesn’t raise white elephants.
But first, we need to know. Are the Games really on?
