Kabaddi could be first team contact sport to resume: PKL commissioner

Since the expansion of the league in 2017, the PKL Player Auction has been taking place in April or May, with the season usually running through the July-October window. However, the eighth edition of Pro Kabaddi is yet to get up and running as a result of the coronavirus-forced lockdown in the country.

“At the moment, there is a lot of confusion on when contact sports will restart. Once the COVID-19 situation is handled well (in India), all sports associations and the government will look to bring activities back,” said Anupam during a PKL online coach education programme hosted on the Zoom application.

With the coronavirus playing spoilsport, national federations, including ones that govern other contact games like football, volleyball, basketball and hockey etc, are rightly adopting a waiting game strategy at present.

“Kabaddi has the opportunity to be the first team contact sport to recommence. We could seize it to find out how sport will function after the COVID-19 crisis. For contact sports to resume, one will have to be aware of the safety protocols, procedures and practices,” he added, without divulging any specific plans for PKL 2020.

During the session attended by association officials, coaches and players, Anupam also spoke about how ‘India’s rural sport’ kabaddi has spread its wings in recent years. Apart from its traditional pockets in Asia – India, Iran, South Korea, Japan and Thailand – the full contact game is beginning to pick up in other continents.

“Even today, there is a lot of regret that the 2018 Asian Games gold medal went to someone else (Iran). But, if kabaddi is going to grow globally, it is a very big achievement for the sport. Only then, other countries will start to play it competitively,” he stated.

“For the 2016 World Cup in Ahmedabad, India, we ensured representation from all geographies of the International Olympic Movement. We had teams from North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia apart from the Asian sides,” said Anupam, who was part of the showpiece event’s organising committee.

Having received complete backing from Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, who aspires to have kabaddi at the Olympic Games, Anupam is quietly confident that the work done by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) and International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) will help the sport attain a ‘truly global’ status.