The Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association (APOA) has formally initiated the process of bifurcation among the various State sports associations, affiliated to it, by naming a committee to ensure smooth process in this regard at a specially convened, unpublicised executive committee meeting here on Saturday.
The committee will be headed by incumbent president of APOA Lagadapati Rajagopal, MP, and will have A. P. Jitender Reddy as vice-chairman and three representatives each from Telangana (Narayana Reddy, B. K. Haranath and Prof. K. Ranga Rao) and Seemandhra (Macha Ramalinga Reddy, Padmanabham and Niranjan Reddy).
Modalities by April 15This panel will decide by April 15 the modalities for the process of bifurcation of the sports associations. In a related development, the APOA meeting appealed to the sports associations to have their respective general body meetings in the city at the earliest in the presence of the observers of the respective national federations and the APOA to make sure that there are no more disputes.
“Since the officials of both Seemandhra and Telangana will be present at these AGMs, they can as well elect the new separate State Sports Associations,” APOA secretary K. Jagdishwar Yadav said.
Onus on IOAInterestingly, the decision to bifurcate the APOA, which will continue to function till June 2 when its term ends, into two separate State bodies will now depend on the Indian Olympic Association’s directive.
“We have written to the IOA and expect a positive response on April 3 when its executive committee meets in Delhi. It all depends on what they instruct us to do – go in for a panel till the bifurcation of APOA is completed in all its legal aspects or suggest new Telangana and Seemandhra Olympic Associations to be elected directly from the separate State sports associations which will come into vogue,” the APOA secretary explained.
