Olympic athlete Nikhat Zareen thanks Shabbir

Hyderabad, Sept 22 (INN): World Boxing Champion and Olympic athlete Nikhat Zareen, accompanied by her parents, paid a courtesy visit to Telangana Government Advisor Mohammed Ali Shabbir at his residence in Jubilee Hills on Sunday.

Zareen expressed her gratitude to Shabbir Ali for his efforts in securing her appointment as Deputy Superintendent of Police (Special Police) in Telangana, a position she recently assumed.

During the interaction, Mohammed Ali Shabbir outlined Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's vision for the future of sports in the state. He announced that a sports university would be established in the next academic year to produce Olympic-level athletes. He said international coaches would be brought in to train aspiring athletes and develop a world-class sports ecosystem.

Shabbir Ali praised CM Revanth Reddy for demanding the Centre to bid for 2036 Summer Olympics and host the event in Hyderabad. He reiterated the state government's commitment to building top-tier sports infrastructure and promoting young talent, especially from rural areas. "We want to make Hyderabad the hub for sports and games in the entire country," he said.

Shabbir Ali expressed confidence that athletes from Telangana would win the most medals for India at the 2028 Olympics due to the encouragement being given by the Telangana government.

Shabbir Ali said that the state government wants to restore the glory of the Gachibowli sports village, which had previously hosted the Afro-Asian Games in 2000 and the World Military Games. He highlighted the need to upgrade existing stadiums in Hyderabad, which are often underutilised for sports and used for political or private events. He said preliminary discussions with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding the construction of an international cricket stadium in Bagari Kanche, Hyderabad, had also been positive.

He pointed out that once the Congress came to power, it initiated various measures to promote sports, including a comprehensive sports policy to nurture talent across the state.

Shabbir Ali also mentioned the government's decision to provide Group I posts to outstanding athletes, such as international cricketer Mohammed Siraj and Nikhat Zareen. While Siraj's qualifications did not meet the educational requirements for a Group I post, an exception was made in recognition of his sporting achievements. Zareen, in addition to her DSP post, was also awarded a Rs 2 crore reward for her accomplishments.

He said that Rs 321 crore had been allocated in the 2024-25 budget for sports development. The state's new sports policy, inspired by successful models from states like Haryana, focuses on creating sports infrastructure, including the construction of stadiums at Mandal headquarters.