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Nagpur, July 16In a major development in basketball circles, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has given affiliation to the newly formed Maha Basketball Association (MBA). With this, for the first time headquarters of official state body is outside Mumbai and that too in Vidarbha.The new body is headed by Dr Dhananjay Welukar as president, Shiv Chhatrapati Awardee Shatrughna Gokhale as secretary and Amravati's Jayant Deshmukh as treasurer. The move is being considered a setback to MP Poonam Mahajan-led Maharashtra Basketball Association (MBA) which was kept in abeyance by BFI for the want of a charity commissioner certificate since 2019.The basketball fraternity, particularly the district units of Vidarbha and Marathwada, have welcomed the move. Secretary of Nagpur District Basketball Association (NDBA) Bhavesh Kuchanwar told Lokmat Times, “ I was the first person to raise my voice against irregularities in functioning of Maharashtra Basketball Association. Then Shatrughna Gokhale took the initiative and pursued the matter to its logical end. As Nagpur district unit secretary, I am happy over the decision. At the same time, we can't ignore main centres like Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur, Solapur etc. Although the new body is mainly based in Vidarbha, these centres should be taken into confidence. I have already taken initiative in this regard.”Jayant Deshmukh, treasurer in the new body and also secretary of Amravati District Basketball Association, said, “This new body will not work just for Vidarbha but for entire Maharashtra. Maximum units are with us. It is just coincidence that those holding the top three posts in the new body belong to Vidarbha. Earlier, the president and secretary were from Mumbai and for the first time now they are from Vidarbha. We have a golden opportunity to serve the game in the state,” he said.Not only district units belonging to Vidarbha have welcomed the move but those also from Aurangabad district (Marathwada) have appreciated it. The secretary of Aurangabad District Basketball Association Ganesh Kad said , “This is good opportunity for us to work for the betterment of basketball in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. Earlier, the association was restricted to Mumbai only but Gokhale and his team have really worked hard to bring it outside the state capital for the first time. The ordinary players will get justice now as the game is spread all over Maharashtra.”'Not aware of development'Meanwhile, former secretary of Maharashtra Basketball Association Govind Muthukumar expressed his ignorance of the development. Talking to Lokmat Times from Mumbai he said, “BFI has not informed us that they have given affiliation to new association. I think other district associations are also not aware of it,” he said. (By Nilesh Deshpande)

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