Goa football gets 'kicking'

Upset over local lethargy and politicking, Goa's soccer fans are increasingly lending a hand to lift the game by the bootstraps and restore it to the pre-eminent position it once enjoyed.

Goa is one of India's smallest states, but has been among the top two or three in terms of its achievements on the football field. This month, one of the oldest outfits in the state, Vasco Sports Club, celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Football had gained in popularity in Goa thanks to support from local firms, including private mining houses. Teams like Salgaocar and Dempo are still spoken of highly in many parts of the country. In 1977, a women's team from Goa even won the nationals.

Recent years have, however, seen the game decline.

In a bid to revive the glory of yesteryear, Goan backers of the game recently launched a local chapter of the Indian Football Supporters Club at the state capital of Panaji. Using the potential of the Internet to build links, the IFSC "will work with the football authorities but will also speak out its mind if things are not running properly. It will be a sort of pressure group, but only if necessary," IFSC officials say.

Earlier this year, football enthusiasts tied up with expatriate Goans in London and Leicester to boost sporting links. Plans are afoot to invite coaches from the Leicester City Football Club to conduct training camps.

Egged on by local sports journalist Francis X. Ribeiro, an initiative called the Goa United Sports Academy has embarked on spreading and monitoring coaching programs in different pockets of Goa.

Five centers have already been opened in North Goa. "The response is tremendous. More than 500 kids are being scientifically coached. We are running out of coaches," commented Ribeiro, the sports editor of a local newspaper.

Prominent Goan footballer Bruno Coutinho, who has turned out for India, has also joined the effort, said Ribeiro, who is also the North Goa coordinator of the IFSC.

One other attempt involves highlighting local sports initiatives by building up Web sites and electronic mailing lists on the Internet. The Web site www.goasports.com was recently launched with support from expatriate Goans in Britain. On the cards is a scheme to promote football techniques by screening videos through local cable operators.

Enthusiasts are also hoping that the junior national football championships that are to be held in Goa in mid-September will give the game a much-needed boost.

A new sporting ground is also to be inaugurated at the Taleigao neighbourhood.

Getting the facility going in the former village, now converted into a suburb of Panaji, has not been easy. Sporting circles say that the formal inauguration of the ground has been postponed "umpteen" times because of non-availability of local politicians for the event.

In another unseemly controversy, politicians have also begun to bicker over whom the Taleigao ground should be named after.

Still, local football enthusiasts are confident they can put this behind them as they work towards reviving the game in the state.

Indo-Asian News Service

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