Basketeers meet to suggest revival plans gains momentum PANAJI: Around 80 basketball players and enthusiasts of the game met in the city on Sunday to discuss the lingering crisis in the Goa Basketball Association and suggest revival plans for future. The meeting was held at the Don Bosco Oratory Conference Hall.
Fr Ralin who convened the meeting called on the basketball fraternity to remain united and fight hard towards reviving basketball in Goa. The meeting was attended by many past and present players and basketball enthusiasts, many of whom expressed their opinions on the occasion. Ashley Do Rosario of Aliens Club lamented that affiliated clubs, schools and institutions were no longer a part of the Association. He said opening of membership to clubs, schools and institutions was fundamental to the revival plans and said that a time frame of six months must be set for the whole revival process to set in. He appealed to all to join them in their revival plans. Sandeep Heble, secretary of Friends of Basketball, said he was disappointed to see Mr CF Vaz and Mr Shekhar Jain call the shots for so many years now despite not doing anything for the sport. He said he had obtained various documents under the RTI Act through which there was prima facie evidence of illegalities, irregularities and even fraud in the management of the affairs in the Association. He said his club would file an FIR shortly and take other appropriate action required to ensure that basketball players do not suffer any further. Current state player Aakash Madgavkar who is one of the probable for the Lusofonia camp said all the camp players were upset with attempts from some quarters to include Mr C F Vaz and Mr Shekhar Jain in the organizing committee. He said this would be unacceptable to the players as the GBA was responsible for the destruction of basketball in Goa and moreover, the camp was functioning very smoothly with a Government appointed committee. Former state basketball players Adv Anil Desai, Vasco Alvares and Audrey Menezes recounted the horrifying times they had had due to various instances of bungling by the GBA. Each of them recounted how they would spend days in trains without reservation, sleep on the floors, have no proper allotment of rooms. They said there were many occasions when they were made to spend their own money for representing the State and on few occasions they had to even return without playing a single game as the GBA had forgotten to submit their team entry. Agnel Dias, a senior player who now officiates the basketball matches, said even during his playing days, there were various occasions where the GBA had shown a complete disorganised approach. “On few occasions, even the finals were postponed as Mr C F Vaz could not arrange the prize money,” he said. Rui Fereira, a former state player, flayed Mr C F Vaz who he said was consistently guilty of following wrong selection procedures. Orlando Mascarenhas, a former office bearer of the Association said the game must now be in the hands of the younger generation and those who love the game. Few other members from the audience also gave their suggestions to revive the game in Goa. The general sentiment was that Vaz and Jain must resign and make way for others to ensure that basketball players who have suffered all these years for no fault of theirs are not made to suffer any further. Source: http://www.navhindtimes.in/sports/basketeers-meet-suggest-revival-plans-gains-momentum
