World Kabaddi has hit back at the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) over their comments on the recently concluded Kabaddi World Cup Midlands, England.
The IKF had earlier declared the Kabaddi World Cup 2025 to be illegitimate and illegal. None of the national kabaddi federations that were involved in the kabaddi medal events at the Asian Games were participating in this competition. It had termed it as ‘Fake World Cup’ and threatened to take action against all stakeholders involved.
World Kabaddi said that that they would now be looking to take legal action after discussing the matter with legal partners and the Central Board, following the continuous interference by the IKF.
World Kabaddi’s Contention
In a press release, World Kabaddi dubbed these allegations as “irresponsible, frivolous, and motivated by pure malice.” They pointed to the fact that they have organised several international tournaments across the world, including the 2019 World Cup, and several European and African championships, and plan to host more such events.
It also said that the World Kabaddi are a legally registered governing body for the sport of kabaddi with 56 national federation members from around the globe and five continental governing bodies. This is in contrast to only seventeen countries were stakeholders in the IKF elections.
“World Kabaddi has organized numerous international tournaments around the world including the 2019 World Cup, several European, African championships. We are also planning to host both the Asia-Oceania and the Pan American Championships later this year as well as the African Women Championships in Tunisia.”
“The just concluded Kabaddi World Cup in the West Midlands is a legitimate elite tournament under the World Kabaddi banner. The tournament is conducted for our own membership and is not under the supervision or authority of any other organization except for World Kabaddi. And it especially has nothing to do with the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF).”
Also Read: IKF Slams Fake Kabaddi World Cup? Controversy Explained
This was the second edition of the competition organized by World Kabaddi, which was held from 17 to 23 March. The men’s competition featured nine teams and the women’s event featured six teams, India emerged champions in both categories.
Notably, the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) has said that they have not permitted these teams to play.
Although the IKF is affiliated with the Asian Olympic Council (OCA) and is responsible for hosting the Asian Games, they are not recognized by the International Olympic Association (IOC), as the IOC itself does not recognize the sport.
World Kabaddi further claimed that they were being targeted despite other organizations hosting similar events too, mainly because they are registered outside of India while the likes of IKF, World Kabaddi Federation (WKF), International Amateur Kabaddi Federation (IAKF) and World Amateur Kabaddi Federation (WAKF) are based in India. They attributed this to the IKF’s ‘ego’ and their “belief that they have a stranglehold over the sport in the nation”.
They also announced their ambitions to organize the next edition in 2027, which will be hosted by the Pan America Kabaddi Association- the first time the event enters the continent.
