Basketball players to stage protest SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Basketball players will stage a peaceful protest against the functioning of the Goa Basketball Association (GBA), here on Monday. Sandeep Heble, speaking on behalf of the players, said the protest was against the functioning of the Lusofonia Games Association and the Goa government’s inaction in the matter. Mr. Heble said the players were upset that C.F. Vaz, president, and Shekhar Jain, secretary of the association, were functioning “illegally and unconstitutionally, in collaboration with some officials from the Basketball Federation of India”. The protests will be held at 10 a.m. outside the office of the Sports Authority of Goa, Patto Plaza. Ahead of their protest, 100 signatories, including basketball players past and present and supporters of the sport, have addressed a petition to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday. In the petition, they expressed their dismay, disenchantment and frustration with GBA’s functioning in the past 20 years. Alleging several violations and gross abuse of law by the GBA, the signatories urged Mr. Parrikar to take corrective measures by appointing an administrator or ad hoc committee to run the association temporarily, until elections can be held. GBA, which lost legal status, had been declared an unregistered society; however, funds are being raised in the association’s name. It has also been stated in the petition that the membership of the association is presently less than a dozen. Despite being de-recognised by the Sports Authority of Goa and the Goa Olympic Association, the GBA has been selecting teams to represent Goa in an arbitrary and non-transparent manner, which has severely affected Goa’s performance at the national level, signatories said. Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/basketball-players-to-stage-protest/article4777168.ece
