For every ISL match hosted in Goa, cops charge Rs 31 lakh as ‘protection money’

PANAJI: Hosting a football match in Goa is turning out to be costlier by the season. In four seasons of Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament, home team FC Goa has shelled out Rs 9.7 crore to Goa police for providing them with security and managing the traffic.
Faced with mounting security bills of Rs 31 lakh per match, FC Goa has knocked on chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s doors and said hosting ISL matches at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda is becoming “unviable”.
What has compounded matters for the new owners of FC Goa is that they are paying the security bills of the previous owners—Dattaraj Salgaocar and Shrinivas Dempo. FC Goa’s new owners, which includes casino entrepreneur Jaydev Mody, took over the franchise only in 2016.
For the inaugural season (2014), Goa were billed Rs 1.5 crore, which rose to Rs 3.2 crore for the next season. In 2016, another bill of Rs 1.7 crore was raised, while last season the Goan franchise was given a bill of Rs 3.3 crore. Faced with a threat of police protection being withdrawn at the stadium, FC Goa have already paid Rs 7.3 crore “under protest”.
“This is the highest security bill that is being raised by any state government. In places like Guwahati (NorthEast United FC) and Jamshedpur (Jamshedpur FC), the franchises have not received any bills from police. In places like Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru, the bills don’t exceed Rs 2 lakh (per match),” said an official, who has been tracking the development.
Goa police, though, maintain they have applied “standard rates” while billing the Goan franchise. The standard fees adopted by Goa police means FC Goa have to pay Rs 24 lakh per match for police bandobast alone, while the traffic police, who sometimes work in three shifts, provide a separate bill, and, sometimes, there is the bomb disposal squad, too. All this adds up to Rs 31 lakh per match.
For every game at Fatorda, approximately 600 policemen are shown on duty. These includes two superintendents of police and five deputy superintendents of police, all of whom do not take home any payment from the organisers. However, the rest of the policemen on duty come with their own rate charts. These includes 16 police inspectors (Rs 4,000 each per shift), 37 police sub-inspectors (Rs 3,600 each), 7 assistant sub-inspectors (Rs 2,800 each), 12 head constables (Rs 2,000 each), 350 police constables (Rs 1,840 each), 70 lady police constables (Rs 1,840 each), 4 PSIs of IRBN platoon (Rs 3,600 each) and 100 constables of IRBN platoon (Rs 1,840 each).
“FC Goa is being charged for two shifts. The first shift is in fact of just two hours (5-7pm), while the second shift is from 7pm to 11pm. The traffic police have sometimes worked in three shifts. Since the total duration for one game is just six hours (5-11pm), FC Goa have told police to charge them for just one shift,” said the official.
Goa police, though, have stuck to their guns. In a new arrangement that is being worked out, police are understood to have agreed on 550 police personnel per game and will charge the franchise on a one and a half shift basis.
The chief minister’s office has responded by constituting a three-member committee headed by secretary (sports) J Ashok Kumar and includes additional secretary (finance) and superintendent of police (headquarters). The committee has been asked to prepare a report within a month.
“The government has decided to constitute the committee to examine the issues of police protection fees levied for sporting events such as the ISL,” states an order issued by director, Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs (DSYA), V M Prabhu Desai.