On National Sports Day 2026, Mumbai’s sports community, opposition parties and local residents intensify protests against alleged ‘land loot’ by the BJP government, accusing it of altering land-use reservations and handing playgrounds and open spaces to private interests. The Neville D’Souza football ground in Bandra has become the focal point of a wider battle to protect the city’s shrinking sporting infrastructure.
INDIA CELEBRATES ITS NATIONAL SPORTS DAY ON AUGUST 29, 2026, across the country. However, people in Maharashtra have been protesting to get their sports’ lands back and stop the alleged ‘land loot’ by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Opposition, members of the civil society and local sports community are alleging that the ruling government is changing land-use reservations to favour certain people while stripping people of their playgrounds and open spaces.
People had also earlier protested for the Neville D'Souza Ground in Bandra, which is one of the city's accessible football grounds, as proposals are being made to convert that ground into a convention centre.
The trend is mainly high in Mumbai, where many playgrounds have been changed to commercial and residential buildings. As per civic records, a total of 17 land parcels in Mumbai that were earlier reserved have been altered in the last four years. Among these plots, many were meant to be gardens, recreation areas and natural open spaces. These changes have triggered criticism from the Opposition, including Congress leader and senior corporator Ashraf Azmi and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and also from the sports community and locals from these areas.
Earlier, on August 23, 2026, the Mumbai Bachao Tiranga Andolan was started by Maharashtra Member of Legislative Assembly and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray at Neville D'Souza Ground in Bandra. The leader, in the poster of the protest, wrote that the ‘Red Card’ will be shown to the ‘land loot’ of Mumbai by the BJP.
During the protest, he addressed the people and said, "Over the last four years, the land-use reservation for 15 plots in Mumbai was altered to hand them over to capitalists." He said that this battle was started to save Mumbai playgrounds and that the fight would continue until victory.
The Andolan was organised to oppose the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's decision to change the reservation of Neville D'Souza football ground and construct a commercial centre there. Many athletes, children, footballers, coaches and locals who live there united in the protest to save the playgrounds. Thackeray further alleged that, similar to this ground, land use in areas like Andheri, Prabhadevi and Shimpoli will be altered.
Many people were present at the protest at Neville D'Souza football ground against the proposal to convert the ground into a convention centre. The protesters said that the ground is used by many people, from young children to senior footballers, for practice, school tournaments, and even league matches.
The Hindu quoted Nigel Neville D'Souza, the son of the famous Indian footballer Neville D'Souza, as saying, “We have almost 14,000 people playing on this ground. Everyone from the ages of five onwards plays on this ground. School tournaments, league matches, and more happen here. It will be very sad if this ground is lost.”
Coaches who were protesting also said that if they lose this ground, their training schedules will be disrupted, and players will not know where they should practise for their matches. This especially concerns football players who are preparing for their upcoming matches, as there are already very few accessible football grounds in the state.
While speaking to IANS, one protester who was an athlete said, “It is to literally save Neville de Souza football ground, one of the very few open spaces that remain in our city, one of the very few spaces that exist for young people to play sports, especially football.” He further added, “But you see how the open spaces are just being eaten up willy-nilly, the number of things that are coming up in place of these open spaces is just, is really, really tragic.”
The Mumbai Football Association vice president, Ryan Menezes, while speaking to IANS during the protest, said that the ground is a very important football ground for the Mumbai Football Association and that every year they organise official matches for kids. He further said that if we lose this ground “our entire Mumbai football ecosystem will suffer a huge setback and the Mumbai football community will definitely get very upset.”
In a recent post on August 29, 2026, Thackeray said that there are some questions that need to be asked of the Union and state governments led by the BJP on National Sports Day. “The BJP regime in Maharashtra and the @mybmc has been auctioning away/gifting open spaces/maidans/playgrounds to its friends and members blatantly and Mumbai is fighting against it.” Thackeray then went on and wrote four instances of the same.
The first, he said, is the garden and maidan in Juhu, which is proposed to be developed by a trust of a BJP MLC. In the second example, he mentioned that, “A fully developed cricket ground, open to all, along with a bicycle track, walking track, tennis court and an urban forest made by us about a decade ago. Now being handed over to a Trust of a BJP MLC.”
As the third example, he wrote, “A plot reserved for a sports complex now being converted to a Petrol Pump, despite there being a plot for a petrol pump across the road, as proposed by the BJP elected representatives in Mulund.” The last was the Neville D’Souza football turf in Bandra West. He mentioned that thousands of footballers play at the Neville ground and that many tournaments and leagues also take place there. He further added, “Apart from these, multiple plots are being snatched away from Mumbaikars and handed over for ‘development’, by BJP, to its builder friends.” In the end, he wrote that this ‘land loot’ by the BJP in Mumbai needs to be stopped.
The earlier three plots from Andheri West and Juhu, which are spread across 16 acres, also sparked widespread questions from political leaders and activists calling for them to be stopped. These plots were proposed to be given to the Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal (SVKM) trust by the BMC and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), which many political leaders, including BJP leaders, opposed.
The Opposition is accusing Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Mahayuti government of trying to abuse their power and state machinery. They said that state machinery like the BMC and MHADA are being used by the government to lease out massive public lands to certain individuals.
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