PANAJI
Goa Football Association (GFA), under the leadership of President Dr. Caitano Fernandes, held its third Annual General Body Meeting in Panaji on Sunday.
Speaking after the conclusion of the AGM, Dr. Caitano said, “AGM started on a good note. Everyone is happy and working for the betterment of football in Goa. In the AGM, everyone has a right to raise their issues. So, all the 13 clubs who had concerns raised their issues like age-group related, infrastructure related and other issues. So, we will consider their issues and try to solve it.”
“In our tenure, we have conducted 1290 games which means that we are in a proper shape,” the President said.
But, there are areas of concern.
“The only problem is that crowd is not coming to the stadium. So, we have to see how to get crowd back in the coming years. In football, we are doing wonders. But, only crowd is not there, “ Dr. Caitano told The Goan.
“Inter-village football tournaments attract a lot of crowd. Also, for youth league and GPL (Goa Professional League) there are supporters who show up. However, for other divisions like second division, third division there is no crowd. We want to make sure that in every village in Goa there are at least 100“200 fan clubs which will get crowd,” he said.
It must be noted that even I-League matches held in Goa involving Goan teams do not attract much crowd, with the average attendance per match being less than 2,000.
Even the crowd attendance at Fatorda during Indian Super League (ISL) matches have been on a decline with average attendance being 10,295 during 2024-25 season compared to 18,066 during the inaugural edition in 2014.
Regarding Goa’s representation at the national level, Dr. Caitano said, “In the last three years, at least 40 - 50 Goan boys have played either in the Indian Super League (ISL), I-League or nationals.”
“We want to make the youth strong. If youth is strong, then one-day they will reach seniors and play for GPL. ISL, I-League and also for India,” he said.
The President further said, “In the Indian national team, we have five Goans. The latest and youngest talent from Goa to make it to the Indian team is Brison Fernandes who has grown from FC Goa to reach the national team.”
The AGM concluded by deciding to construct a new building at Duler Ground, Mapusa for players room, changing room as per I-League guidelines.
