If the empty stands of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda during the two Indian Super League home games of FC Goa are any indicator, passion for football in Goa is on the decline.
It comes as quite a shock that football, the state sport of Goa since 2012, has been seeing a steady decline in the last few years. This is a game that is played in every corner of Goa, and that it isn't producing players of good quality is something to ponder on.
The last time Goa won the national football championship, Santosh Trophy, was in 2009, although the state did make it to the finals in 2017 and last year.
There has also been an evident lack of Goan representation in the top two tiers of Indian football. In 2004-05, there were six Goan teams in the National Football League (NFL).
This slump in Goan football has prompted the decision to hold a two-day football summit which will discuss, deliberate and ferret out solutions to revive the waning sport.
The Goa Football Development Council (GFDC) and the Goa Football Association (GFA) have come together to organise the GFDC Football Summit 2024, which will be held on October 9 and 10, 2024, at the BPS Club, Margao.
The summit will be inaugurated by Sports Minister Govind Gaude, Chairman of the Organising Committee and MLA of Margao Digambar Kamat and Sports Secretary Swetika Sachan at 9 am on October 9.
There will be panel discussions lasting about an hour. Topics covered will span coaching, professional clubs, amateur clubs, player perspectives, inter-village football, youth football and academies, as well as marketing, sponsorship and fan engagement.
All Goan football stakeholders will present their views at these panel discussions, including club owners, top government officials, coaches, marketing experts, international players and those whose passion for the game has kept it alive at the grassroots level.
Some of the prominent outstation panellists will be North-East United Football Club CEO Mandar Tamhane, Joint Managing Director of Fan Code Yannick Colaco, former Indian captain and technical director Shabbir Ali and former marketing director of Gujarat Titans and COO of FC Goa Aditya Datta.
Presentations on panellists’ discussions with suitable solutions to stave off football’s descent into decline will be held on the second day from 3 pm to 5 pm.
It is not that the GFDC has fallen short in anyway. It is essentially the lack of passion for football that has led to this situation, according to Sports Minister Govind Gaude.
MLA Digambar Kamat, who was also present, said that every boy has played football in his childhood and "nobody can deny that football is the game of Goans."
“GFDC was established to take football ahead in Goa. For some reason progress has not happened the way it should have. If you look at the other states, they were nowhere in the football arena. Football was just Goa, Bengal and Kerala. Other states have moved ahead of us and this is a matter of concern,” said Kamat.
He went on to say that there were plenty of Goans in the Indian team in the past and hoped that Goa could reclaim her past glory in football.
GFA president Caitano Fernandes noted that GFDC was meant to develop the game at grassroots level while GFA would take it to another level. He thanked the Sports Minister Govind Gaude and MLA Digambar Kamat for their support while appealing to the press to do the same.
Sports Minister Govind Gaude assured that it was not that the GFDC had fallen short in anyway. It was essentially the lack of passion for football that had led to this situation. He also said that the solutions brought forth by the summit would be executed if achievable.