Request for postponement of National Games will attract a penalty of Rs 10 crore: IOA

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Wednesday made it clear that it will impose a fine of Rs 10 crore on the organising committee if the 36th National Games, scheduled to be held in Goa, are postponed yet again.

In a letter to IOA, the Goa government Tuesday expressed its inability to host the much-delayed 36th National Games from March 30 to April 14, citing the upcoming elections, security and volunteer related issues.

However, IOA wrote a letter to National Games Organising committee on Wednesday, saying any further delay will attract a fine of Rs 10 crore.

"In case of a request from the NGOC for the postponement in the hosting of the Games from the previously agreed upon dates, the same will be reviewed by the IOA leadership and IOA Executive Council. However, the request for postponement will attract a penalty of Rs 10 crore payable to IOA," the letter said.

The much-delayed National Games, which were originally planned for 2016 but have been rescheduled several times, was scheduled to be held from March 30 to April 14 but the Goa government has now proposed a new window of October-November.

The Goa government has cited by-elections in two assembly constituencies in February-March and the Model Code of Conduct due to the upcoming general elections, lack of security personnel and the issue of inadequate volunteers due to school examinations as reasons for the postponement.

But the IOA was not willing to buy these arguments as all these issues were known when the final decision to host the Games was taken in October last year.

The IOA had already decided to allot the next editions to Chhattisgarh (2019), Uttarakhand (2020) and Meghalaya (2022) after Goa hosts the event.