Published: February 10, 2026 at 11:36 am
Is the Telangana Basketball Association (TBA) turning into a two-man show? The modus operandi of president R Sridhar Reddy and secretary A Prudhvishwar Reddy has raised a lot of questions about the democratic norms being practiced by the body. There are allegations of high-handed behaviour coupled with total mismanagement and lack of transparency in policy matters.
Former TBA secretary Norman Isaac said that decisions are being taken unilaterally without convening the General Body of the Association. “Most of the 11 elected Executive Committee (EC) members are inactive office-bearers of their respective district basketball associations and, therefore, are not aware of the functioning of the association. Hence, these EC members have become a puppet in the hands of the president and secretary,” he wrote in a letter to the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).
In fact, the very election of the TBA held on April 1, 2025 has been challenged with two writ petitions pending in the High Court of Telangana. One writ petition was filed by Mohd Nayeemuddin, who had lost the election to the secretary’s post by four votes, on the ‘eligibility status’ of incumbent secretary Prudhvishwar Reddy. Another writ was filed by G Eugene George praying for an ad-hoc committee to be appointed as seven of the 10 affiliated district basketball associations have not conducted elections to their bodies since 2015.
Ironically, president Sridhar Reddy, in a hard-written complaint, dated March 17, 2025, to Returning Office Justice (retd) P Naveen Rao had stated that Prudhvishwar Reddy was ineligible to contest the elections as his election as president of the Warangal District Basketball Association (WDBA) was ‘illegal’. However, both seem to have patched up and are ‘working together’.
Allegations made by vested interests, says Sridhar Reddy
“The allegations are being made by vested interests. There is no truth behind it. We have conducted four inter-district tournaments this year and teams were selected based on those tournaments. Only one inter-district was not conducted due to paucity of time and also because no district came forward to hold it,” Sridhar said.
“We have got the best results at the national level this year when compared to the last 12 years. Hence, some people are not able to digest this fact,” he added.
However, Norman said that only two inter-district tournaments were held this year. He alleged that the president and secretary are treating the association as their ‘fiefdom’ and taking policy decisions according to their own whims and fancies. Some of the major decisions taken by them without the approval of the general body are:
Cancellation of affiliation accorded to 10 newly formed district basketball associations. The affiliation to these bodies was approved by the general body on December 12, 2020, so that all the 33 districts could be accommodated in the TBA. A SOP has been filed by six district associations against the TBA in the city civil court, Secunderabad.
THDBA secretary Norman Isaac alleged that the president and secretary are treating the association as their ‘fiefdom’ and taking policy decisions according to their own whims and fancies
Conducting pre-season pro league.
Conducting auction of teams, tryouts, and auction of players for the Telangana Premier League.
Norman also listed out other matters of serious concern like:
Selection of sub-junior teams being done in a partisan way by not conducting inter-district championships. Districts not informed of names of players from their respective districts who were selected for the coaching camp/final team.
Players being asked to make their own arrangements to reach Dehradun for the sub-junior nationals.
No female coach or manager accompanied the team at the sub-junior nationals at Dehradun.
Team officials were staying in a separate hotel, and the captain of the team was made to manage the players at the sub-junior nationals and thereby raising the security concerns of the players.
‘TBA thwarting autonomy of district associations’
Thwarting the autonomy of the district associations by threatening schools/colleges to invite referees only from the TBA in spite of the fact that many such tournaments are conducted under the supervision of the district associations, which is a five-decade practise.
“District Basketball Associations were not informed of selection trials. Inter-district matches were not conducted, and selection trials were also not conducted but still the Telangana men and women teams participated in the 5th 3×3 National Championships at Delhi from January 29 to 31 this year,” said Norman.
“The BFI has not given affiliation to this body still and even the Telangana Olympic Association has not recognized it, but they have printed it on their letterhead,” he added.
“That is not an issue at all as I and Prudhvishwar attended the BFI AGM, and our teams are participating in the Nationals. So, how is that a matter,” questioned Sridhar said.
