Indian Kabaddi Federation ban to be lifted, confirms IKF President

The IKF banned the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) in July last year.

In a huge sigh of relief for Indians, the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) has confirmed that the ban on the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) will be lifted by next month. Vinod Kumar Tiwari, president of the world governing body of Kabaddi, has confirmed that the ban imposed on the Indian body will be lifted after the executive council meeting next month.

It all started in 2019 when the Delhi High Court appointed Retired Judge, Justice Garg as the administrator against the appointment of former federation chief Janardhan Singh Gahlot as ‘Life President’ and his wife as the current President.

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Garg was given the responsibility of conducting fair elections and handing over responsibilities to the elected body. After multiple hurdles, the election happened in December 2023 with Vibhor Vineet Jain elected as the new president and Jitendra Thakur as general secretary. But Garg held up the results due to a petition in the court.

The International Kabaddi Federation waited for six months and when it realised that the elected body was not running the day-to-day functioning of the federation, their president Tiwari wrote to PT Usha, the president of the Indian Olympic Association about the violation of the rules and hence the ban was imposed. The Indian administrators moved the matter to the Supreme Court.

The highest body in India gave the verdict on February 6th asking Justice Garg to hand over the administration to the elected members for day-to-day affairs. The AKFI office bearers took charge and have started working from the AKFI office at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and the same has been conveyed to the IKF. Vinod confirmed that the IKF is aware of these incidents.

Lifting the ban is an expected move as India is the hub of world Kabaddi and its presence is a must in every tournament. The Supreme Court of India has accepted the plea of ​​two players, Priyanka and Pooja, to allow them to participate in the Asian Kabaddi Championship in Iran. India went on to lift the trophy.

The AKFI also acknowledged the IKF’s disapproval of the so-called Kabaddi World Cup held in Birmingham last week. The fans are finally relieved and looking forward to seeing India compete in the World Championships and dominate like they have been doing all these years.

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