Sania Mirza, Milkha Singh to grace Lusofonia Games opening ceremony

Panaji: Legendary Indian athlete Milkha Singh and tennis star Sania Mirza will grace the Lusofonia Games opening ceremony which will take place on December 10 at the SAG Ground in Campal here.

The third edition of the Lusofonia Games will be held over the period of 12 days from January 18 to 29, 2014.

During the ceremony, the Lusofonia mascot - the Goan kombo or rooster, an animal which binds Portuguese culture - will be unveiled, a Games official said.

"The mascot will be named Jojo," the official said. The two-hour event will see the launch of the theme song, tentatively titled 'Viva Lusofonia' penned by St Andre MLA Vishnu Surya Wagh. The multilingual song is sung by Goa's quintessential nightingales - the evergreen Lorna and Goa's fadista Sonia Shirsat. Music has been composed by Mukesh Ghatwal. The ceremony will witness the presence of chef-de-missions of the participating countries and Association of the Portuguese Speaking Olympic Committees or ACOLOP members.

The Lusofonia Games is a multinational multi-sporting event organised by the ACOLOP, which involves athletes coming from Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries, namely those belonging to the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries), but also others where there are significant Portuguese communities or that have a common past with Portugal.

This event is similar in concept to the Commonwealth Games (for members of the Commonwealth of Nations) and the Jeux de la Francophonie (for the Francophonie community).