No international cricket match in Goa till own stadium is complete

Panaji:

The Goa Cricket Association (GCA) on Sunday said that it will not host any international Cricket match in the state till its own stadium is completed.

"We had asked for one match with BCCI which was granted to us. But we failed to conduct it because of the improper stadium. Its a government owned stadium. Now we won't host any matches till we have stadium of our own," GCA President Dayanand Narvekar said today.

One Day International (ODI) between India and Australia scheduled on October 24 had to be called off due to soggy field.

Narvekar said that in absence of proper drainage for the stadium, soggy field was created at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium.

"It's uncomfortable to hold match there," he added.

GCA President said that being a government-owned stadium, several issues crop up during organisation of the match.

"Change in government makes policies differ. Each sports minister comes up with his own thinking," Narvekar, former state Finance Minister, said.

He said that GCA has already acquired land for Rs 150 crore worth stadium project at Thivim village, 15 kms away from here.

"Once we get environment clearance, the work on the project will start by December, this year and entire project will be completed in next two years," Narvekar added. Goa government has been paid Rs 1.6 crore by GCA to acquire land for the project.

"BCCI will provide subsidy to the tune of Rs 50 crore for this facility," Narvekar said adding that it will be stadium with a 45,000 sitting capacity.

The state cricket association has said that it does not want money from the state government to complete the project.

"We don't want money but we want full co-operation of the government to complete the project," he said.