the goan I network
PANAJI
Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) has expressed its displeasure over non-Goans representing Goa at the National Wheelchair Basketball Championships held in Erode from September 20 and 23.
The selection for the same was done at a two-day workshop conducted by the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) and Wheelchair Basketball Association of Goa (WBAG) in collaboration with the Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India (WBFI) on September 10 and 11. However, at the Championships held in Erode, two players from Mumbai -- Anthony John and Sudanshu Patel -- were brought in to play for Goa, without them having been present at the selection camp. This deprived Goan players of the chance to play.
The Goan players, Vishant Narvekar, Sayad Mosik, Gopal Naik, Prakash Kundaikar and Moses Rodrigues, are aggrieved. Narvekar told ‘The Goan’ on Tuesday, “It was like we were taken there as an eyewash.” The players did get a chance to get on field for a short time in the first match. For the second match, coach Shawn Rodrigues said he couldn’t take the chance of putting them on court, since they weren’t national level players. The Goa team, however, lost the second
match too.
When contacted, coach Rodrigues said he was forced to bring in the two Mumbai players as the players from Goa did not have the ability required to compete in nationals after just a two-day training camp. When Kalyani Rajaraman, secretary general, WBFI was contacted, she said that the WBFI had no rule that disallowed players from other States representing a State. “Right now, we are concerned with promoting the sport. The team selection was left to the local association,” she said.
The local association, the WBAG, formed on August 29, is not registered with the SAG. The president of the WBAG, Satirao Pinto, did not comment on players grievances, when contacted.
DRAG has assured that it will take up this matter with the Secretary of Sports, and the SAG. Further, Sports Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar has assured that he will look into the matter. In their letter to the Sports Secretary, president of the DRAG wrote, “This is great injustice to our Goan players with disability and a fraud committed on the State by the Wheelchair Basketball Association of Goa and its coach Shawn Rodrigues.”
