Lusofonia Games set to begin from Saturday

Panaji: Goa is all set to host the 10-day long Lusofonia Games from Saturday, which would be held across six stadiums, until January 29.

The event which is scheduled to be declared open from Saturday at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Fatorda, South Goa is set to witness participation by 12 nations and more than 700 athletes. Portuguese Commonwealth nations like Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Goa (India), Macau (China), Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Sri Lanka will participate. The Indian team will participate as Goa (India). Athletes from 12 nations will compete in nine sporting disciplines including athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, football, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball and wushu. Lusofonia Games are among the largest multinational and multi-sport games in the world organised by ACOLOP from Portuguese speaking Lusophone countries, namely those belonging to the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), besides other nations with significant Portuguese communities or nations which shared a common past with Portugal. A burning Lusofonia Games torch which signifies `Unity and Pride` would travel 28 kilometres from Bambolim through the winding streets of Goa to culminate at Ravindra Bhavan hours before the opening ceremony. Goa`s pride, Fortunato Franco, who holds the honour of being the only surviving Goan to have represented India at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, will flag off the Torch relay and be the first runner. For the opening ceremony, 2,000 performers will put up a display of exhilarating folk performances from Goa and other parts of India, besides local school children who would also be a part of the event.