It is almost as if celebrations do not stop in Goa. Days after New Year celebrations in the state Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Parrikar has now thrown the gates to the Lusofonia Games, Goa – 2014 open and made it free to the public. The high profile Games which will see the participation of 12 countries will not be ticketed and sports aficionados can watch the Games free of cost.
The decision to scrap the ticketing process was taken following a meeting with high-ranking Lusofonia Games Organising Committee (LUGOC) officials. All those who wish to get a piece of international sporting action, can now do so without feeling a pinch.
Earlier, the tickets had been designed and tentative prices had been fixed for all events. However, to ensure that nothing holds back the fans from enjoying nail-biting sporting action, Mr. Parrikar decided to scrap the tickets and roll the red carpet to sports fans. The gesture will be appreciated by sports lovers who are looking forward to the international sporting event.
He said, “The idea behind opening the gates for public is to attract maximum crowd for all events. The government will not lose any revenue from keeping it non-ticketed. The state government is spending crores of rupees on creating infrastructure and organisation of the Games. As compared to that, the loss of revenue from sale of tickets, will be minuscule,” said the Chief Minister.
The Lusofonia Games are among the largest and the most prestigious multinational, multi-sport games in the world organized by ACOLOP (Associação dos Comités Olímpicos de Língua Oficial Portugues), which involves athletes coming from Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries.
Athletes from 12 nations will compete in the 9 different sporting disciplines – Athletics, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Football, Judo, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Volleyball and Wushu.