Kabaddi's Global Body Declares World Cup In UK 'Unauthorised'

The International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) on Wednesday declared that the World Cup being held in London is not an "authorised" event and asked the sport's Indian apex body to act against the team that had gone to take part in the tournament. Kabaddi World Cup 2025 is being held in the West Midlands from March 17 to 23. The tournament is being hosted by the England Kabaddi Association and the British Kabaddi League (BKL) under the aegis of World Kabaddi Federation, a parallel international governing body of 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.