Indian Kabaddi Teams barred from international tournaments by IKF

IKF is not happy with the administrative unit of AKFI.

India, an epicenter for the sport of Kabaddi has been barred from participating in all International tournaments. The International Kabaddi Federation conveyed the announcement to the President of the Indian Olympic Association, PT Usha. In a letter to the IOA chief, the IKF President Vinod Kumar Tiwari raised the concern of Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India failing to work as a duly elected body to run their administrative work.

He wrote, “It has come to our knowledge that the administrator of AKFI has conducted the elections to the AKFI on 24.12.2023 and one managing committee has already been elected, yet the management of the AKFI continues to be with the administrator. This is a clear violation of the conditions for affiliation to the IKF”. As a result, IKF has denied participation for teams sent out by AKFI in the Men’s Senior World Beach Kabaddi Championships to be held in September in Iran and for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in November in Thailand.

The Elections for the administrative body were held in December 2023 and Vibhor Jain and Jitendra Pran Singh were elected as President and General Secretary respectively. Despite this, the daily affairs of the body have been under the control of the existing administrator. The returning officer has decided to make results contingent on the outcome of the petition in the court. This was warned to be a violation and failing to act on it has resulted in this action.

The ban is not the first blow for Indian Kabaddi in recent times as a similar notice was sent by the Asian Kabaddi Federation as well a few weeks ago. AKFI also ended with the contract with Mashal Sports, one of the brains behind the Pro Kabaddi League ahead of season 11. The auctions for the season was expected to happen in the last week of May but it was postponed after two parties failed to reach a consensus.

With the absence of a democratically elected body and controversies as the face of Indian Kabaddi, things look bleak for India. The fans and enthusiasts of the game are worried about how off-field issues have impacted India’s participation in International events. With the World Cup and many more tournaments in the lineup, fans await for a solution in this legal battle.

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