Goa Congress hit by resignations on day of Priyanka Gandhi visit
Panaji, Dec 10: The Goa Congress faced a spate of resignations and confusion prevailed over its alliance with like-minded parties for the upcoming polls in the coastal state as the opposition party was getting ready for a series of meetings by general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday.
A group of Congress leaders from the Porvorim assembly constituency tendered their resignations on Friday morning. The group, supported by Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte, claimed the Congress was not serious about contesting the assembly polls likely to be held in early 2022.
The Congress party does not seem to be interested in contesting the upcoming Goa elections seriously. It is a non-starter due to the attitude of some of its leaders, Gupesh Naik, a former zilla panchayat member, who led the group from Porvorim, told reporters.
In yet another setback for the Congress, its senior leader from South Goa Moreno Rebelo tendered his resignation.
The resignation letter by Rebelo claims he was upset after the party announced the "candidature" to sitting MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco from the Curtorim constituency "despite he working against the party". Rebelo hails from Curtorim.
Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, who has never participated in any party activity for the last four-and-a-half years and on the contrary only abused party leaders and yourself, worked against the official candidate of Curtorim in the recently held Zilla Panchayat election, is promoted as working president of the party and is declared as a candidate by senior leaders during a recently held convention, Rebelo said in the letter addressed to Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar.
The spate of resignations came after differences emerged in the Congress over the nature of its understanding with the Goa Forward Party (GFP) for the assembly polls.
AICC Goa election in-charge P Chidambaram on Thursday said the GFP had only extended support to the Congress and refused to term it as an alliance at this stage.
On the other hand, senior Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao has proposed a meeting between GFP chief Vijai Sardesai and Chodankar on Saturday.
Talking to reporters in Panaji, Chidambaram had said, So far we had one party leader Vijai Sardesai who came to Delhi and said, 'in order to defeat BJP, my party offers support to the Congress party'. Rahul Gandhi said, "we accept the support. All other details have to be discussed further."
Within minutes of his statement, Rao had tweeted I have invited Sri @VijaiSardesai, President of @Goaforwardparty for a meeting with Sri @girishgoa, President of @INCGoa and others on 11/12/21, 10 am at Congress Election Office, Patto Plaza, Panjim.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is scheduled to address various events and interact with youngsters and women during her day-long visit to Goa.
I have invited Sri @VijaiSardesai, President of @Goaforwardparty for a meeting with Sri @girishgoa, President of @INCGoa and others on 11/12/21, 10.00am at Congress Election Office, Patto Plaza, Panjim.
— Dinesh Gundu Rao/ದಿನೇಶ್ ಗುಂಡೂರಾವ್ (@dineshgrao) December 9, 2021
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
