Panaji, Nov 15 (TNN): Former chief minister Manohar Parrikar approved the construction of a new football stadium at the existing Parade ground in Campal before he resigned from his post last week.

Parrikar, now the country's defence minister, signed and approved the file prepared by Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) during his last few hours in office, and assured Goa Football Association president Elvis Gomes that the stadium will soon see light of the day.

The approval was made possible due to the persistent efforts and meticulous work of Gomes, who is also GSUDA member secretary, and comes at a time when successive state governments -- and chief ministers -- had appeared to put the construction in cold storage.

"It's true Panaji will now have an exclusive football stadium of its own. Football fans have been thirsting for a football stadium here and now that dream will come true. We are all delighted," said Gomes, adding that the GFA managed to snatch this as a parting gift from Parrikar.

It was not immediately known what the government intends to do with the existing Campal stadium site.

"The new stadium will come up at the Parade ground which has expansive space. The designs are already in place," said Gomes.

According to sources, the Parade ground has about 40,000 sq mts of space, making it a convenient location for a 5,000 capacity stadium with a playing field of 105 X 68 metres.

The estimated cost of the project with floodlights is expected to be Rs 28 crore and will have two dressing rooms, dining area, anti-doping room, team lounge, conference room, four corporate boxes, media centre, TV broadcast control room and camera platforms.

The stadium also has a provision for a plush office which, if the government wishes, could be occupied by the Goa Football Association. The GFA currently has an office on the top-floor of a clustered building in the city and president Elvis Gomes has been vocal about a need for the GFA to move out to a better location.

Parrikar, during his first stint as chief minister, had demolished the historic Dayanand Bandodkar Stadium at Campal in 2004, ostensibly to free space for parking during the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and later plans for a convention centre also came up. Parrikar, though, promised to construct a new stadium within 18 months but his promise fell flat as he was soon knocked out of office.

Since then, Parrikar -- as leader of the opposition -- has himself led a delegation that met the then chief minister Digambar Kamat, demanding the immediate construction of a state-of-the-art football stadium at Campal but successive state governments continued to turn a deaf ear.

Exactly a decade later, the man who demolished a historic football stadium is now at the heart of constructing another football stadium in the city.