Sports: India gifts equipment to The Cricket Board of Maldives
New Delhi: Responding to a request, India has gifted the Cricket Board of Maldives (CBM) with cricket equipment worth MVR 1 million.
They held a ceremony to hand over cricket equipment on Saturday last week at Male’s famed Ekuveni Synthetic Track Ground. Indian High Commissioner Muni Mahawar presided over the event in the presence of Vice President Faisal Naseem, and Maldivian Minister of Youth, Sports, and Community Ahmed Mahloof, besides CBM President Mohamed Faisal.
The two neighbors had signed a USD 40 million loan agreement for the development of sports infrastructure in the Maldives in 2021. Its money will build a variety of stadia and sports complexes across the Maldives to accommodate football, athletics, badminton, tennis, table tennis, and a variety of indoor sports. It will also help the Maldives prepare to host the Indian Ocean Island Games in 2025.
Under India’s USD 800 million Line of Credit (LoC) to the Maldives, a state-of-the-art cricket stadium will also be built.
On the occasion, India’s Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur, via a video message, greeted the Maldivian athletes.
Mahloof commended India for its close connection and consistent support for the growth of sports in the Maldives, including a USD 40 million LoC to transform the island nation’s sports infrastructure.
The Maldives Sports Ministry has, with the help of an Indian grant, redeveloped the Male Ekuveni Track, a sporting monument in the capital. The government has also built outdoor gymnasia and children’s parks throughout 61 islands of the country.
Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s presence in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Bengaluru in April 2019 gave a huge boost to the India-Maldives cricket cooperation. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) conducted training programs for Maldivian cricket coaches and umpires to further the cricketing ties between the two countries.
(Venkatesh)
