Game over for Goa University and athletes? Goa’s iconic stadium leased out for entertainment
They built a palace for dreams and then rented it out for wedding parties. For Goa’s athletes, it’s like being given a Ferrari only to be told they can only admire it through the showroom window – look, but don’t touch. This is the bitter reality facing hundreds of sportspersons as the government hands over Goa Univeristy’s premier indoor stadium: Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium to an entertainment company.
The gleaming Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium sits like a monument to broken promises on Goa University’s campus; an 80 crore white elephant that was meant to nurture India’s next generation of sporting heroes. But as of Thursday, it’s set to host more wedding parties than basketball tournaments.
In a move that has sent shockwaves through Goa’s sporting community and specially the students of Goa’s only university –Goa University, the state government has handed over the flagship facility to a Mumbai-based entertainment company for a 10-year lease, expecting to pocket a mere Rs 25 lakh per month from the deal.
“Late Shri Manohar Bhai Parrikar envisioned the indoor stadium as a space to promote sports in the state. Today, it serves as a venue for Goa University students to organize sports and cultural events. It’s a part of our campus life and identity,” says Satej Sinai Khandeparkar, the president of Goa University Campus Students’ Union.
This latest controversy erupted soon after an issue came to light where the authority prioritized a private school’s month-long summer camp over its own competitive athletes, altering training schedules and disrupting their routines.
Built originally for the 2014 Lusofonia Games and renovated extensively for the National Games just two years ago, the stadium was showcased as evidence of Goa’s sporting ambitions. Now, its polished floors are more likely to see event nights, furniture exhibitions than flying volleyballs and basketballs. The stadium, constructed with taxpayer money on university land, was meant to nurture sporting talent while providing much-needed facilities for Goa’s only university.
To be fair, this characterizes many Indian public institutions—physically present but functionally absent for its intended beneficiaries.
Professor Ramrao Wagh, didn’t mince his words and while speaking to an online media outlet stated: “They spent 70 crore rupees to build it, then expect 4 crore annually from renting it out. I can only say the government is willing to beg.”
He added: “If they couldn’t run it properly, they shouldn’t have built it in the first place.”
“We would have utilized he place for something else. This is in the Goa University land. Tomorrow, if there are daily wedding parties, obviously the event management company will take on any events, music events any event. There will be music until late night and there can be crowds till early morning. When this happens, the academic environment will get affected. It is difficult and a pain for Goa University.”
The irony that the stadium bears the name of BJP ideologue Shyama Prasad Mukherjee hasn’t been lost on observers. The stadium was a pet project of late CM Parrikar, who had promised that the area would remain a “secluded academic zone.”
“This decision of the government to built the stadium to make money with a PPP scheme, it is on whose name? Shyama Prasad Mukherjee is a tall leader of BJP. He’s their idol. Even during the Kashmir issue, he was a mass leader. The stadium which you named after him you are ready to give on lease as per PPP model,” said Prof Wagh.
“EV buses recharge their batteries at the charging stations (at SPM stadium). It has become a general purpose ground. Anyone comes and uses it anyhow. Will they prioritise sportspersons?”
One administrative staff member, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed: “Ministers and MLAs have had wedding receptions here. Even VIPs from Delhi use it for parties. The new company will take anyone who’ll pay – and that’s not going to be athletes.”
You know how Indian parents push their children to become doctors or engineers instead of athletes because ‘there’s no money in sports’? Well, the Goa government seems to have become that parent.
The government’s decision has sparked furious protests on campus, with students and professors conducting a silent march from the university’s administrative block to the stadium on Friday.
Their silence speaks volumes about the noise that might soon replace the rhythmic bounce of basketballs – wedding bands and corporate conferences. After all, the private entity didn’t sign up for a 10-year deal to host badminton tournaments.
The state government has defended the decision, claiming they represent “optimal utilization of resources” and will generate revenue for maintaining the facilities.
The government’s decision in December 2021 to float a tender for operating the stadium reveals how long officials have been contemplating this transfer of stewardship.
Even at the time, the decision was contentious. It can be recollected that the then Goa Table Tennis Association Vero Nunes made a statement even as the decision to float the tender was mulled in 2020, stating that the SPM stadium was used to host non-sporting events. He continued, stating that when the GTTA wanted to host nationals, they had to go to Mapusa as the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium was booked.
Critics also point out that the stadium sits on a biodiversity-rich university campus, where late-night events and loud music will disturb not only students but the wildlife as well.
“When the government builds hospitals, schools, or sports facilities, they’re not meant to be profit centers,” Professor Wagh told The Navhind Times. “What’s next – will they rent out our hospitals for corporate events because patients don’t generate enough revenue?”
With the assembly session starting Monday, stakeholders urge opposition leaders to raise the issue. But for Goa’s athletes, the damage may already be done.
As one young basketball player put it: “In India, we spend crores celebrating Olympic medals when they happen once every four years. But we won’t spend a few lakhs a month to create the facilities that could win us more.”
Goa’s government says it’s progress. Others call it a sell-out. Either way, it’s a of a test for who really owns the future.
