MARGAO
Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa has said it is really sad to see half the stadium empty during FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup matches in Goa.
Saying his request to Director of Sports to issue passes to school students in Quepem was ignored, the MLA alleged that the focus the BJP Government is only on "event management to make fortunes from its Mission Commission".
Demanding immediate intervention of the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the Quepem MLA said he is shocked to hear that the U-17 girls who represented Goa at the 61st edition of National Subroto Mukherjee Cup football tournament in New Delhi are not invited or given passes for the matches. “This exposes the attitude of the BJP government in promoting football in Goa,” he charged. He added: “I had requested the Director of Sports to issue passes to the school children from Quepem who were keen to watch the matches. Unfortunately, my request was completely ignored. The result is that half the stadium remained empty.”
Saying that the Congress party had raised an alarm on the tender floated by Sports Authority of Goa for selection of event management agency for FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, he said the tender with an estimated cost of Rs 3.8 crore was hurriedly awarded, giving less than 24 hours time to the selected agency to put things in place.
“The mess is now out in the open. I was given two VIP passes and only 25 general passes for the first day of the tournament on the same day. Today, I have received 25 passes for the second day matches. This shows that the government has failed to print and distribute passes well in advance. This shows that BJP government's focus is only on 'Mission Commission'," he said while demanding that the Chief Minister must intervene immediately and allow the football enthusiast school children free entry into the stadium against their identity cards to watch the matches.
