Trying to get kabaddi included in Islamic Games: Sarwar

KARACHI: Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) and Asian Kabaddi Federation (AKF) secretary general Mohammad Sarwar has said that effort is being made to include kabaddi in the Islamic Games slated to be held in Konya, Turkey, next year.

“We have already held meetings with a number of countries, including Iran. They are very much interested in including kabaddi in the Islamic Games,” Sarwar told ‘The News’ in an interview from Beirut on Wednesday. “Meetings are still going on and in the last step we will approach Turkey’s officials who are going to host the Games. Once our NOC’s situation becomes clear we will approach Turkey through it and we are hopeful for a productive outcome,” added Sarwar, who is in Lebanon to witness the Arab Kabaddi League in which 12 Arab nations are competing.

“We have also raised a Turkey kabaddi team. Iraq also has a good side. Iran and Pakistan will be the two strongest sides if kabaddi is part of the Islamic Games for the Turkey edition,” Sarwar said. “If included it will also help the developing Islamic kabaddi nations to get experience which will help them build their kabaddi teams for the future,” he said.

Sarwar said kabaddi is taking its ground in the Arab world. “It’s fast spreading in the Arab countries. Here in the Arab League in Beirut a dozen nations are participating, including Iraq, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. These people have the resources and they know how to divert their youth towards healthy activities. Saudi Arabia is also taking keen interest in kabaddi and hopefully it will also raise a good team. We also will try to include kabaddi in the Arab Games in future,” he said.

About kabaddi in Pakistan, Sarwar said that every effort would be made to manage a camp for next year’s Asian Games. “We cannot violate the government orders as due to Covid there is a restriction on kabaddi which is a full-body-contact game. But I am hopeful the situation is going to get better as people have started getting vaccinated. On our part we are going to have a fully vaccinated pool of players in order to keep them in training camp for next year’s Asian Games. There is the possibility of holding an event in a bio-secure environment but we cannot afford that as it requires resources,” said Sarwar, also a former Pakistan captain.

Asked if India was set to go for a players auction for its eighth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) later this month, why Pakistan was not going to take such a step, Sarwar said India had a huge budget for kabaddi and they could afford it. “India’s case is different. They can afford holding an event in a bio-secure environment. They can even get a separate hotel for that purpose but we are unable to do anything like that. Yes, we will try to hold our Pro League without foreign players once the situation gets better. We are looking at every aspect. We realise that our players have turned rusty because of a long inactive patch due to coronavirus and they need activities,” Sarwar said.

Kabaddi has been Pakistan’s worst affected sport during the last two years due to Covid-19. Although players kept themselves busy in small events in rural areas, there has been no official activity.