Established in 1971, Goa's most iconic club, Tito's has been sold off, announced Ricardo Joseph D'Souza, whose family owns the club, in an emotional post

Established in 1971, one of Goa's most iconic clubs, Tito's has been sold off, announced Ricardo Joseph D Souza, whose family owns the club, in an emotional post on Facebook on Monday. Labelling it as the 'end of an era,' D Souza attributed the sellout to harassment meted out to Club Tito's at the hands of officials including the police, the excise, MLAs and others. However, in the same post, D Souza thanked CM Pramod Sawant, IAS officers and people of Goa for contributing to Tito's.

Speaking to a local news channel, Tito's outgoing owner clarified that he had nothing against the present sarpanch of Calangute or IAS officers who, he said had been “brilliant”, adding that the the “crab mentality” of local Goan officials had made it increasingly difficult for Goan businesses to continue. Narrating the ordeal faced by businesses, D Souza claimed that several departments of the government including IT and GST strive to shut down businesses by harassment.

Proudly asserting that he is a nationalist, Ricardo D'souza stated that Tito's does not evade tax and that he was the one who sued the Queen of England to bring back the Kohinoor diamond. While he did not disclose who the buyer of Tito's is, there are reports indicating that a Punjab-based casino operator has bought the iconic club. It is unclear whether the new owner will persist with the brand and the usual setting of the club in Calangute. Meanwhile, Ricardo D'souza has said that the family has plans to set up operations in Toronto, Dubai, parts of Ukraine, and Africa and also spread Tito's franchise across India.

According to the club's official website, over the years since it was established in 1971, the club has played over 87,600 hours of music, hosted 16,425 parties and on average had 90,000 visitors every month.