Hoisting Tricolour must to host Lusofonia Games: Goa govt

Goa government has decided against hosting the Lusofonia Games in the state in case its main organisers refused to allow the Indian Tricolour to be hoisted at the Games venue.
"We will not allow the games without the Tricolour. The issue will be discussed at the meeting of ACLOP, scheduled in Macau on September 23," Goa sports minister Ramesh Tawadkar told PTI.
He added that the infrastructure created for the Lusofonia Games could be used for the forthcoming National Games scheduled to be held in the state.
ACLOP, or the Association of Portuguese Speaking Olympic Committees, is the main organiser of Lusofonia Games, a Portuguese Commonwealth event with participation by Olympic committees from 12 Portuguese speaking countries.

The event is scheduled be held in Goa from November 2 to November 10.
Goa government is in the process of readying six venues for the event which would be inaugurated at the Pandit Jawharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda in South Goa.

However, uncertainty over the hoisting of the Tricolour has endangered those plans, since the International Olympics Committee (IOC) is yet to lift the ban on the Indian Olympics Association (IOA). The ban which is expected to be reviewed later this year.
IOC has insisted that IOA must by October 31 include a clause in its constitution preventing those facing charges or awarded convictions from participating in polls.

It also asked IOA to hold its election by December 15, sources said.