In the midst of the political turmoil that the state of Andhra Pradesh is going through on the question of to divide or not to divide, the AIFF has taken a major step to revive the game in the state which has delivered many a Olympians for India in the past.
AIFF, under the supervision of Justice T Ch Surya Rao, Retired Judge of Honourable High Court of AP, concluded the elections for the various posts in the Andhra Pradesh Football Association.
Football in Andhra Pradesh was mired by controversy for many years. Many competing officials had stalled the development of football in the region for their personal interests. This had caused the AIFF to suspend the APFA and thus the state was ineligible to field any team in any competition, including the Santosh Trophy and I-LEAGUE.
The resolution of the problems means that not only AP will be able to field team in the Santosh Trophy, but it also paves the way for a possible franchisee from the city of Hyderabad in the I-League. It is to be noted that when the AIFF floated the tender to incorporate new teams owned by corporates in the I-League, business conglomerates GMR had expressed the interest in getting the Hyderabad city team.
Mr. Kushal Das was pleased to welcome the APFA back into the fold of the AIFF as a member association, which means that the state will recieve funds from the AIFF and will also resume all footballing activity officially.
The contribution of Andhra Pradesh in Indian Football is immense. It was such a pity that Andhra football has been dead for so many years due to petty ego problems and politics. I hope we will now be receiving full cooperation from the newly elected body for the promotion of the sport in Andhra Pradesh and Indian Football in general. My congratulations to all the office bearers and we are delighted to get back Andhra Pradesh as a recognised Member Association.
Kushal Das, AIFF General Secretary
