ARCHIVE : AFRO ASIAN GAMES
The 32nd National Games was held in Hyderabad and Vizak in Dec. 2002 with much fanfare. Altogether 31 disciplines were held in 23 venues spread across both the cities under the able stewardship of the Hon'ble Chief Minister Nara Chandra Babu Naidu.
Seeing the professional manner in which the whole event was handled, the Govt. of India and the Indian Olympic Association decided to shift the venue of the inaugural edition of the very prestigious Afro-Asian Games from Delhi to Hyderabad. Like in the case of Asian Games where inaugural edition was held in India (Delhi), this prestigious battle between Asia & Africa would also be kicking off from India but this time its Hyderabad and not Delhi which speaks a lot about the confidence the whole of India has on Hyderabad, especially on Sri Naidu.
The pride of India now solely rests on Hyderabad and it is time for her to show, not only to the rest of India but also to the whole World itself, that it is capable to host an event of this magnitude.
With Afro-Asian Games having nearly about 2,500 competitors and above 1,500 officials from 97 countries to participate in the games of eight disciplines - athletics, football, boxing, weightlifting, hockey, tennis, swimming and shooting, the total budget needed for the running of the whole event works close to Rs.100 Crores. Raising this huge amount would not be a very easy task under the present and the prevailing condition of the Indian economy. But the record that Hyderabad created during the recently concluded National Games has made the top people of the Indian sports fraternity confident of the capability of Andhra Pradesh to achieve this huge figure.
During the 32nd National Games a record amount of sponsorship of nearly Rs.13.50 Crores was generated from Public sector as well as corporate houses. This figure could not have been reached without the blessings and guidance from the Hon'ble Chief Minister.
