Society for Transformation, Inclusion and Recognition through Sports (STAIRS) today announced that Mr. Siddhartha Upadhyay, its founder and secretary general has been appointed to the governing body of Sports Authority of India. Sports entrepreneur and philanthropist Siddhartha Upadhyay is leading the change in sports at grassroots levels through STAIRS, a not-for-profit organization working towards sports, education, health and skill development of children across India.

Mr.Siddhartha Upadhyay is a recipient of prestigious Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, from the President of India. As the founder and secretary general of STAIRS, he also represents the organization in Steering Committee for FIFA U-17 World Cup, BRICS U-17 Tournament, Mission XI Million Programme and a programme of Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society, formed by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (Govt of India).

Expressing his happiness over the appointment of Mr Siddhartha Upadhyay on Governing body of Sports Authority of India, Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Vijay Goel said, “Mr Upadhyay has been recognised for his efforts to build grassroots football, and he will be an asset for the Ministry. He is now part of the governing council, and I am sure that his inputs and ideas will help us structure new policies pertaining to sports.”

Commenting on his appointment to the governing body of Sports Authority of India, Mr Siddhartha Upadhyay, Founder and Secretary General, STAIRS and Governing Body Member of SAI said, “My mission has been to empower youth to climb the ladder of success by enrolling them in sports and education. As a member of the Governing body of Sports Authority of India, I look forward to contributing towards sports development through a grassroots approach while broad basing the ecosystem to produce more champions.”

“STAIRS' UFLEX STAIRS School Football League (SSFL) has established a competition based scouting program engaging all stakeholders right from players, officials, corporate and reaching the Government. This model is already working successfully in identifying talent in the field of football and can be replicated for other sports. The Khelo India program has over 300,000 kids, it identifies and acknowledges their hidden talents and provides a platform for exhibiting them. The third program of STAIRS - UTTHAN (Elevation of underprivileged youth) runs with an objective to create a platform for youth to dialogue with duty-bearers through sports, and thereby initiate community actions that lead to positive outcomes of the Sustainable Development Goals in the community through community mobilization. Our fourth program – STAIRS4ABILITY is an effort to build the capacity of organisations working for equal rights and an improved quality of life for people with disabilities. STAIRS AGAINST DRUGS program aims at using sports to keep the young away from drugs and help them channelise their energies for personal and economic growth,” Mr Upadhyay added.

Shri Vijay Goel met Mr.Siddharth Upadhyay today to discuss ideas on bringing more transparency in sports ahead of the first meeting of the new Governing body to be held on March 28, 2017. The new governing body also includes prominent sporting names such as Jwala Gutta, Gagan Narang, Ashwani Nachappa and Shiny Wilson.