News from Sanjay Borkar
Daijiworld Media Network - Margao (SP)
Margao, Mar 19: Urban development minister and president of Goa Football Association (GFA) Joaquim Alemao has accused Housing Minister Micky Pasheco of ruining the dreams of the football lovers from Goa, as the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Bharti Enterprises on Wednesday March 18, decided to scrap plans to build an academy at Cuncolim in Goa due to the delay involved with the acquisition of land for the project.
The academy project involved an outlay of around one hundred crore rupees. Had it been realized, the Goan youths would have got a golden opportunity to pursue their carriers in Football. But the stubborn attitude of minister Pasheco has ruined the plans and shattered the dreams of the Goan people, reiterated Alemao, talking to Daijiworld correspondent.
According to the AIFF, the academy will now be moved to Haryana, as Goa has let go of the opportunity offered to it to build the Football Academy.
Alemao explained, AIFF and Bharati Enterprises were supposed to spend around a billion rupees on this project, and that the state government did not have to spend anything out of its pocket. This was an ideal project for everyone, but Pasheco created hurdles, as a result of which it got shifted to some other state, he rued.
National Congress Party leader, central minister and AIFF’s acting president Prafful Patel had intervened in the matter and asked its minister Pasheco to clear the file pertaining to the acquisition of land for the academy. But he (Micky) did not oblige the union minister. What can you expect from a person who does not obey his own party leader?, Alemao questioned.
Alemao put the blame for the shifting of the academy squarely on Pasheco, accusing the minister of keeping the relative file pending in his drawer for about six months. Alemao stressed, no minister can be expected to keep such important files for so long.
Prafful Patel had asked Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat last month, to sort out the problems with his ministerial colleagues within seven days, warning that the academy will be shifted out of the state if this is not done.