Kabaddi World Cup declared ‘unauthorised’ by global body, Indian federation urged to intervene

Reigning champions India in action at Kabaddi World Cup (Pic: X)

The International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) on Wednesday declared that the ongoing Kabaddi World Cup in London is an ‘unauthorised' event and urged India's apex kabaddi body to take action against the team participating in the tournament.

The Kabaddi World Cup 2025 is currently being held in the West Midlands from March 17 to 23. The tournament is being organised by the England Kabaddi Association and the British Kabaddi League (BKL) under the banner of the World Kabaddi Federation, a rival international governing body for the sport.

"The ongoing so-called Kabaddi World Cup 2025 in the UK conducted under the aegis of the so-called World Kabaddi Federation has not been authorized by the International Kabaddi Federation, that is the international governing body for the sport of Kabaddi as recognized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)," the IKF said in a statement.

"The OCA, the IKF, and the Asian Kabaddi Federation (AKF) also oversee and supervise the conduct of the medal competition of kabaddi for men and women at the Asian Games since 1990, and other international kabaddi tournaments."

A similar incident happened in 2020 when an 'Indian team' had visited Pakistan to take part in a Kabaddi World Cup even as the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) and the sports ministry said that they had not cleared any team for the tournament.

Interestingly, the AKFI was suspended by the IKF in 2024 as the Indian federation was not having an elected body since 2018. A court-appointed administrator, (retd) Justice SP Garg, has been overseeing the organisation for more than five years now.

Recently, the Supreme Court had asked Garg to hand over the AKFI administration to an elected body.

The IKF is headed by India's Vinod Kumar Tiwari who was elected in 2022 for a four-year term.

The IKF said that the Indian team that had gone for the Kabaddi World Cup in the United Kingdom was not sent by the AKFI, the national body of the sport.

"The OCA, IKF, AKF, and the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) have no dealings or engagement with the so-called World Kabaddi Federation or any of its activities.

"IKF has been communicated by AKFI, that the so-called India team at the so-called Kabaddi World Cup in United Kingdom does not have any sanction or recognition from the AKFI, that is the officially recognized custodian body of the sport of kabaddi in India.

"IKF will further request AKFI to exercise its mandate to suitably and justly deal with the supposed India team in the so-called Kabaddi World Cup in the United Kingdom, including participation in the kabaddi competition and events that are conducted under its custodianship in India."

The international body also informed that "no national kabaddi federation that participates in the kabaddi medal discipline at the Asian Games is participating in this event (Kabaddi World Cup in London).

"The teams allegedly (mis) representing such countries at the ongoing so-called Kabaddi World Cup in the United Kingdom do not have any sanction from the relevant NSFs for Kabaddi."

(With inputs from PTI)