‘Handpicked’ Goan judokas not selected on merit, alleges coach Coach accuses Goa Judo Association of “favouritism” and “double standards”, says the association bypassed all selection norms and criteria while selecting four Goan judokas, who will join a 14-member Indian team that will participate in the forthcoming Lusfonia Games
PANAJI: A state judo coach on Thursday questioned the credentials of the four Goan judokas and the rationale behind their selection by the Goa Judo Association (GJA) into the 14-member India team that will participate in the forthcoming Lusfonia Games. “All four (two boys and two girls), who were recently selected by the GJA were merely handpicked while overlooking the performances of judokas who deserved a selection primarily based on merit and their track record at the senior nationals,” thundered the coach, accusing the GJA of resorting to “favouritism” and “double standards” while alleging that the judo association had bypassed all selection norms and criteria. “Today, I put my head down in shame. I am sorry to all Goan judokas that I really cannot do anything over here. The Goa Judo Association has taken most pathetic decision by picking four players without any selection trials,” alleged the coach. “Two of the girls were not even probables for Lusofonia Games and have never even won a single bout at national level,” the judo coach continued, alleging, “their qualification is that they are the students of general secretary of Goa Judo Association. My heart goes out to all those girls like Ivina Miranda, Bharti Pawar, Kiran Parsekar, Sneha Jadhav who have won medals at nationals including gold medal. Perhaps they didn’t have in them what these two girls that got selected had,” said the coach. Another coach pointed out that the method adopted by GJA in selecting the four judokas is very much controversial and this matter now begs the attention of the Chief Minister, Sports Minister, Sports Secretary and heads of SAG and DSYA. “A proper investigation into the matter needs to be done while verifying the merits of the same and take quick corrective measures to provide justice to the truly meritorious and deserving candidates,” the coach added. It was during last Saturday’s executive committee meeting that the GJA had disclosed about the selection of the four Goan judokas. The GJA had said that it had taken into consideration the track record of the judokas’ performance over the last three years at the senior nationals and decided to include two boys and two girls from the list of probables who recently attended a three-month camp for Lusofonia Games. “Aditya Kankonkar and Shabaji Naik are the two boys while Snusha Gawas and Annapurna Mallya are the two girls who will be part of the 14-member India team that will participate in judo discipline at the Lusofonia Games,” GJA president, Gurudatta Bhakta had told ‘The Navhind Times’ at the end of the executive meeting. However, with the latest allegations by a judo coach coming to the fore, neither Bhakta nor the secretary of the association, Siddeshwar Naik were available for comments when this reporter tried to contact them. Source: http://www.navhindtimes.in/sports/handpicked-goan-judokas-not-selected-merit-alleges-coach
