the goan I network
PANAJI
The State government will step in to probe the reality of the Bandodkar Gold Cup -- is it pure gold plated or not.
Sports Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar told the Goa legislative Assembly on Tuesday that the issue “is serious” and an inquiry has to be done.
He, however, did not spell out the nature or the terms of reference the government will order but said: “I will put up the note today itself and forward it to the Chief Minister. He will take the call on whether the inquiry will be by an IAS officer or a retired Judge.”
Ajgaonkar was responding to Nationalist Congress Party MLA Churchill Alemao’s claim that the trophy, which has been in the possession of the Goa Football Association, had been mysteriously replaced with one plated with copper.
Alemao, who is also aspiring to contest the president’s post at the next GFA election due in August, raised the issue during zero hour on Tuesday. He said the trophy, donated by Goa’s first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar in 1970, was a prestigious one and insisted it was pure gold.
“At least 6-7 policemen used to be deputed to guard the trophy which used to be on display at the tournament,” Alemao claimed, adding that he himself has witnessed the spectacle several times in his youth.”How has the trophy now become copper?” Alemao asked urging the government to institute a probe. To buttress his claim, Alemao quoted a 1999 published book of the GFA titled “Grass is Green” as saying that the trophy is valued at Rs 20 lakh.
