PANAJI: Less than a week after chief minister Pramod Sawant announced that the hockey stadium at Peddem in Mapusa will be named after Dhyan Chand, a name for the athletics stadium in Bambolim has also been finalised.
“We will name the athletics stadium at Bambolim after the Flying Sikh Milkha Singh,” Sawant said during a function to handover cash awards for meritorious sportspersons on Friday.
Milkha Singh, one of India's greatest-ever athletes, missed out on a bronze medal during the 1960 Olympics held in Rome. He passed away due to Covid-19 complications in June this year.
Inaugurated in 2014 for the Lusofonia Games, the venue was not officially named but often referred to as the GMC athletics stadium. Several matches of last season’s Indian Super League (ISL) were played here.
Other venues built for the Lusofonia Games and the oft-postponed National Games are waiting to be named.
“We will consider naming the stadiums after Goan sportspersons who have contributed for many years,” said Sawant. “The names of Leo Pinto, Walter D’Souza and Mary D’Souza are being considered for stadiums which are not yet named. This is the right time to do it. We are celebrating 60 years of Goa’s Liberation and we must move ahead in all fields.”
While Leo Pinto and Walter D’Souza were part of India’s gold medal-winning team at the 1948 London Olympics, Mary D’Souza is among the first Indian women to compete in Olympics. She won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Asian Games in Delhi (1951) and at Manila Games in 1954.
Sawant also announced that the state government will soon sign a memorandum of understanding with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for its centre of excellence at Campal. The centre will cater to table tennis, badminton and swimming. An annual budget of Rs 3 crore has been earmarked.
“In Dhargal, we have 100 acres of land. We want to create a Sports City there. Due to the pandemic, we could not move ahead with our plans. But our vision is to have a Sports City. Land has been reserved and by 2023 we should have an academy for sports with the best facilities,” said Sawant.
