Football’s dark day
It is a dark day for Goan Football when Sporting de Goa and Salgaocar Sports Club decided to pull out from the I-league. The owners of the Goan team are die hard football lovers who ventured into Goan and Indian football. They have brought laurels to the state, put Goa on the footballing map and boosted many careers for the young Goan footballers. I feel very sorry for their decision and hence call this a dark day for Goan football. Sporting de Goa has followed all the conditions set for professional clubs by FIFA. They have a strong grassroots program for all age groups, which is mandatory for all professional clubs. To dump them this way is totally unjustified. I disagree with their outbursts, saying that the people who flocked to watch all ISL matches don’t know anything about football. With millions of Indians watching foreign professional leagues, they are definitely learning and growing as fans of football. For any sports or team to be a crowd puller you need to have the best marketable players who can bring in the crowd to the stadium and create a support base for teams. You need to have a market team and money to do that too. We can’t go by passion all the time. Crowd came in large numbers to see football stars, some marquee player who were past their prime. One should recollect the rising of Indian cricket after they created history by dethroning the world champions West Indies in the Prudential Trophy tournament by a meagre score of 183. No one believed, only Indian players led by the dynamic all-rounder Kapil Dev did the impossible. There was no looking back for India. Sponsorship poured in and BCCI today calls all the shorts in the cricketing world and is the richest board. We have to give this sport its due importance by establishing grassroots programmes.
Gregory E. D'souza, Siolim
Repair the roads
For too long now the roads across Goa are in a pathetic condition and no one bothers to repair them. Of course, now that elections are coming up, the government will be going hammer and tongs to ensure that they fix the roads so that their votes are assured. But the BJP has left this too late. The movement and peaceful agitations by people will hopefully embarrass the government and the negligent PWD. People are planting banana trees and making signs near potholes. This is commendable. I remember reading about artists in Bangalore creating embarrassing artworks around potholes so that the departments there fill them in quickly. It is only when the citizens come on to the streets that the government will notice their problems. One must commend AAP volunteers for their help in this regard. Other parties only talk during Assembly or give press conferences and say that the incumbent government is not doing this or not fixing that, but the AAP has gone onto the streets and are moving with the people. Even if it is political, atleast the roads will get fixed.
Sanjay Naik, Mapusa
