AP To Have Exclusive Team for IPL Tournament

 Vijayawada: Sports Minister Mandipalli Ramprasad Reddy has said the state government is contemplating the launch of an exclusive cricket team for Andhra Pradesh in the IPL tournament. “We would name it after Amaravati’ city,” he said and added that steps were being initiated to transform AP into a major sports hub.

Addressing the media after a review meeting he held with the sports authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) at the IGMC stadium on Monday, Ramprasad Reddy said the government would develop sports infrastructure from the village to state level to encourage athletes to excel in their chosen fields.

The minister alleged that the previous government committed a corruption of Rs 120 crore under the guise of ‘Aadudam Andhra’ competitions held at the end of its tenure. “We are collecting evidence of the irregularities, malpractices and corruption in SAAP,” he said.

He said the government would strive to develop sports at the village, district and state levels. New sports grounds, stadiums and sports infrastructure would be developed across the state.

The minister said, “A committee will be constituted to probe the duplicate certificates scam in SAAP and render justice to real sportspersons by providing them jobs under the sports quota.”

Additionally, the government would come up with a new sports policy and invite reputed sports personalities like Pullela Gopichand to set up sports academies in Visakhapatnam and Amaravati.