AKFI suspended by International Kabaddi Federation

Delhi: The drama involving the National Sports Federations in India never seems to end with the latest being with Kabaddi.

International Kabaddi Federation has decided to bar India from participation in the World Beach Kabaddi Championship following the ban on the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India.

The NSF is banned due to an administrator, Justice SP Garg, appointed by the High Court running the body instead of the elected body. For the past five years, AKFI has been run by a court-appointed after a petition prompted the Delhi High Court to cleanse the national body as per the 2011 National Sports Code.

Vinod Tiwari, president of the International Kabaddi Federation, wrote to the Indian Olympic Association claiming that India will miss a chance to participate in the World Beach Championship due to the lack of clarity on who is running AKFI.

"Indian team will not be allowed to compete at the first senior World Beach Kabaddi Championship scheduled to be held in September in Iran and sixth Asian Indoor and Martial Art Games to be held in Thailand in November," IKF's communication to IOA read.

There was an election conducted in December 2023 to elect the new body

However, the election was deemed invalid by the High Court as it didn't adhere to the National Sports Code 2011.

"Yes, the AKFI is suspended and they will remain suspended if they don't appoint the elected representatives to run the body," IKF president Vinod Tiwari told The Bridge over an email.

"The conflict of elected administrators being ineligible is something that AKFI needs to figure out," he added further.

The presence of an administrator is viewed as a third-party intervention and violates the IKF rule of having an elected body running the national sports federation.

At the moment, the Indian men's and women's teams are leaders in the world but the ongoing fight means that they won't be able to participate in the international tournaments if the administrative issue is not resolved.

Adding on to that, the suspension of the Indian Federation will lead to a lack of competition at the international level further hampering the growth of the sport that aims to see itself in the Olympics.

While the presence of the Pro Kabaddi League has made the sport popular and maintained a high standard of competition at the domestic level, the lack of international competitions won't do any good for the national teams.