Model code of conduct could delay 36th National Games yet again

The 36th National Games due in Goa in March this year are likely to be postponed yet again, with the state government citing difficulties in hosting the Games following imposition of model code of conduct for the upcoming assembly by-elections as well as Lok Sabha polls.

In a letter to the Indian Olympic Association president Narendra Batra, state Secretary for Sports and Youth Affairs J. Ashok Kumar said while Goa is committed to hosting the event, the enforcement of the code would be a hindrance in organising the Games.

"Goa has two assembly by-elections in February/March for which the model code of conduct is likely to be imposed soon," Kumar said in his letter to the IOA president on January 9.

The code would again be in force for the Lok Sabha general election in April-May, Kumar said.

Thus the state would be facing a peculiar situation, where the entire state machinery will be involved in conducting the polls from February till May, said Kumar.

"Since the proposed dates for the Games coincide with the election period, this will definitely have an impact on the conduct of the Games," he said.

The Games were originally scheduled in Goa in 2011, after the state government signed a contract as a host city with the IOA in 2008.