Portuguese Games: Goa to participate under Indian flag, name

Indian contingent for the forthcoming Lusofonia Games in Goa will be named as India (Goa), the organisers said.

The Games are a Portuguese Commonwealth event, in which all the Portuguese-speaking countries can take part, Goa Olympics Association President Gurudatta Bhakta said, denying that it had any colonial associations. The Games, to be held in October-November, had nothing do with Portuguese colonial rule, he said.

A controversy has erupted over Goa's participation. Goa was ruled by Portuguese for around 450 years before being liberated in 1961. BJP legislator Vishnu Wagh had termed the participation in the Games as "an insult to the freedom fighters" who fought for Goa's liberation. Wagh had said he has no problem with Goa hosting the Games, but the state should not participate in it. "We are not a Portuguese nation," he had said.

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has said the state government is not too keen on organizing the event, but it is fulfilling the commitment made by the previous (Congress-led) government.

Bhakta said the Indian contingent will be named as India (Goa), and will participate under the Indian national flag.