Labourers placing chairs and tables to set up the counting centre at Indoor Stadium at Campal.
PANAJI
The decision of the government and the State Election Commission to utilize stadiums, recently reconstructed at massive costs for hosting the National Games, as counting centers for the upcoming Zilla Panchayat polls has earned the ire of sportspersons and administrators alike.
Administrators fear that facilities and equipment installed in these stadiums to international and olympic standards at massive costs could face the threat of irreparable damage due to the activity during the counting of votes in the upcoming ZP polls.
In early December, the Goa Badminton Association had written to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant urging him to reject the proposal to use the stadiums for election related work but the request appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
The Association's secretary, Sandeep Heble said in the letter to Sawant, copies of which were marked to the SEC, Sports Secretary and other officials that the Sports Authority of Goa too had in the past opposed use of stadiums for election purposes.
Heble said, after a prolonged period of shutting these facilities due to the Covid-19 pandemic, athletes have only recently resumed training and now they will again not have access hindering training regimes and coaching plans of sports organisations.
"The State has spent large amounts to create the infrastructure across Goa. it is very unfortunate that the State Election Commission is using these stadiums for non-sports activity," Heble's letter adds.
He said, the State government should take a policy decision not to permit sports facilities to be used for election-related work in the future.
Meanwhile, several top-ranking shuttlers echoed Heble's concerns. Several of them 'The Goan' spoke to said, the brand new flooring at the Indoor Stadium in Campal faces threat of damage even as they watched labourers haphazardly place tables, chairs and other equipment required for the ZP poll counting process in the stadium on Thursday.
