Lusofonia Games: Stadiums to be ready by December end

PANAJI: Goa government will hand over the stadiums built for the much-delayed Lusofonia Games to the organisers of the event by this month end.

"All the stadiums are ready. We will hand them over to the organisers by month end by sealing them," state Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters yesterday, after visiting the specially built indoor stadium at Bambolim near here.

"All the venues would be ready by Christmas and they will be ready for use," he said.

The Portuguese commonwealth games, which were scheduled to be held in November, were postponed to January as the venues could not be ready within the deadline.

Athletes from 12 nations will compete in nine sporting disciplines - athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, football, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball and Wushu.

The Lusofonia Games are among the largest and most prestigious multinational, multi-sport games in the world involving athletes coming from Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries.