Published: February 21, 2026 at 6:58 pm
‘Transforming Andhra Pradesh into a sporting state’, is the punchline behind the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) League 2026, which was officially launched at the Sri Srinivasa Sports Complex in Tirupathi on Saturday.
The league was inaugurated by SAAP chairman A Ravi Naidu along with TTD board member Panabaka Lakshmi, AP Handloom Crafts Corporation chairman Pasupuleti Hariprasad, Tirupati city commissioner Maurya Reddy, SAAP MD Bharani and AAP director Rajini.
Speaking at the inaugural session, SAAP chairman Ravi Naidu said the SAAP League was started to discover and groom talented players from the grassroots level. He said competitions will be held in 31 disciplines. He said the sports body is working diligently to identify talented players in the state
Ravi Naidu said that state government will be taking steps to amend GO No.4 so that sportspersons from the school level are encouraged to take up sports as a career option.
Participants during competition at the SAAP chess league in Tirupati on Saturday
He added SAAP League will be a special test camp to identify the talented sportspersons. As part of that, SAAP has decided to combine 31 sports such as kabaddi, kho-kho, chess, volleyball, cycling, basketball, football, archery, athletics, para-athletics, water games etc. in the League.
SAAP ready to train interested sportspersons
He said that all this is being done to encourage sportspersons in the state. He added that SAAP is ready to train interested sportspersons and called on parents to come forward to train their children as athletes.
He said that the state government has released Rs 16.30 crore in sports incentives which were kept pending by the previous government from 2021 to 2024. He also said that they proposed to release another Rs 8 crore. He said that the Sports Authority will take steps to identify athletes who are eligible for the upcoming Commonwealth and Asian Games. He said that a sports hall with a capacity of 200 people will be set up in Tirupati soon with a cost of Rs 4 crore.
Bharani said that selections are being held at the district level for each sport in the SAAP League.
TTD board member Panabala Lakshmi, who was the chief guest at the event, said that Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu is the one who made the state famous worldwide. It is now the responsibility of sportspersons to maintain that reputation at the international level. He said that Andhra sportspersons should excel at the national and international levels, and SAAP will provide full cooperation for that. He conveyed his best wishes to all the sportspersons.
Hariprasad said that if youth wanted to move forward with self-confidence, they should excel in sports. He said that sports can increase mental strength.
Maurya Reddy said that sports activities in Tirupati had gained momentum and that in the last one and a half years, the provision of accommodation facilities to the players and organizing state-level competitions had increased.
