Vijayawada: The Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) has made it clear that it could not question the decision taken by the Cabinet in awarding huge cash prizes to players even if they are not willing to play for AP. The SAAP said it was helpless in the Gopich-and Sports (GS) MoU episode, as the decision was taken at a high level, following which the issue has now landed in the Chief Minister’s court.
SAAP will hold a meeting with sports personalities here on Wednesday, for which local prominent sports personalities had not been invited. The meeting is aimed at finalising the sports policy-2016 draft. SAAP chairman P.R. Mohan, who is in the city to attend the draft policy meet, told Deccan Chronicle that he could not question the decisions taken by the Cabinet. “The state government and the Chief Minister will take a final call on that,” he clarified.
About objections from several sports associations over going for an MoU with Gopichand Sports unilaterally, he said there should have been a tender process and the same would be placed before the Chief Minister after reviewing the draft policy. “I admit that there are some lacunas in the existing policy,” Mr Mohan said and added that all mistakes would be rectified.
However, Mr Mohan and SAAP VC and MD N. Bangarraju had no strai-ght answer as to whether they had asked Pullela Gopichand whether he wants to be with Telan-gana or Andhra. “If he wants to stay in Telan-gana, he has to forego the benefits in AP,” Saap officials opined. Meanwhile, AP Olym-pic Association treasurer K.P. Rao has questioned the Saap for signing an MoU with Gopichand Sports without a transparent tender process.
He met the SAAP VC and MD on Tuesday and stated that he would challenge the move legally. In another move, AP Badminton Association CEO Karanam Chenchu Punnaiah Chowdary asked the government why it ignored sports completely in the last three years.
