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  5. Goa minister not keen to hold 'colonial' sports event

Goa minister not keen to hold 'colonial' sports event

Panaji: With the Lusofonia Games set to begin Jan 18 here, Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar said Monday that he does not like the concept of Goa hosting the Portuguese Commonwealth Games.Tawadkar, a minister in the

IANS Updated on: January 07, 2014 11:56 IST

Public Works Department Minister Sudin Dhavalikar said it went against his grain to support the event, which was a hark back to the colonial times.

Ruling party legislator Vishnu Wagh too has opposed the Games in the past.

"These are Games for Portuguese-speaking countries. Goa is not a country and India is not Portuguese-speaking, so how come we are hosting it?" the poet legislator said before eventually agreeing to compose the Games' anthem last month.

It was decided in 2009 that Goa would host the 3rd Lusofonia Games when the Congress was ruling the state and then Congress state president Subhash Shirodkar headed the Goa Olympic Association.

Goa won the rights to host the event after Brazil withdrew at the last minute.

Tawadkar claims that the current BJP-led coalition government decided to go ahead with the Games only because of the commitment given by the past administration and because of the sports infrastructure, which would be created as a result of the Games.
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