The latest entrant in the Hero I-League, the Sreenidhi Group, which will play in the I league from the 2021-22 season, have set their eyes towards the overall football infrastructural development in the states of Andhra and Telangana.
The Sreenidhi Group have already invested a sum of about ₹50 crores for building the Sreenidhi Football Village in its base in Visakhapatnam, whose construction began 2 years back.
The club plans to provide its players with top-class facilities in order to grow the sport of football in that region. To develop world-class players, world-class facilities are required. Without such facilities, development is unlikely to happen.
Sreenidhi Director Dr. Taher Mahi Katikaneni said, “We already have four International standard grounds which are ready. The turf of the third ground is still coming up. It’s been half-finished because of the pandemic. We’ve got everything planned, right from office, gyms, medical rooms, to galleries. By the end of the construction, which will probably take another year and a half, we will be able to give our players a top facility, one that will probably be the best in India.”
At present the football team of the Sreenidhi Group participates in the AIFF’s youth leagues.
Dr. Mahi added, “We will focus on Indian players, but we also have to keep an eye on the competitive levels, so we will try and get a few quality overseas players too. But if possible, even if it is a small percentage, we would very much like to have a few players from Andhra and Telangana as well.”