NEW DELHI: With an aim to promote the on a global level, the first-ever Global Women’s Kabaddi League is slated to take place in September 2024.
The League will bring together women athletes from over 15 nations, as the Global Pravasi Women’s Kabaddi League (GPKL), a first-of-its-kind tournament gets underway.
The Global Pravasi Women’s Kabaddi League (GPKL) aims to promote Kabaddi to the international stage, serving as a major step towards the inclusion of Kabaddi in the Olympic Games and supporting India’s bid to host the Landmark event in 2036.
Organized by the Holistic International Pravasi Sports Association (HIPSA), in collaboration with World Kabaddi, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was recently signed between HIPSA and the Government of Haryana. The League also is set to kick start in Haryana, to promote and develop women’s kabaddi globally.
The Global Pravasi Women’s Kabaddi League will feature teams from over 15 countries. Athletes from diverse backgrounds, including nations like England, Poland, Argentina, Canada, and Italy, have expressed their desire to feature in the League.
On the growing popularity of the sport and upcoming League, HIPSA President Kanthi D Suresh said as quoted from a press release by GPKL, “This has been long overdue and now with the Government of India’s steely resolve to bid for hosting the Olympics, without our indigenous sport being part of it would be heartbreaking!
Kabaddi is the oldest sport and has been in the Indian subcontinent from time immemorial. It was included as a full sport in the Asian Games in 1990, with the women’s event introduced in 2010. The upcoming League not only aims to celebrate this rich heritage but also to inspire a new generation of women to take up the sport.
Former Indian Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has also voiced his support for Kabaddi’s inclusion in the Olympics. As India sets its sights on hosting the Olympic Games in 2036, the inclusion of Kabaddi in the Olympics will just be cheery on the cake.
“The allotment of hosting rights for the Olympics is done by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through a detailed host selection process spelled out in the public domain. The IOC has a dedicated body, the Future Host Commission (FHC), which deals with this subject. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA), which is the NOC for India, has initiated the dialogue process with the FHC,” Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya said in a written reply in Lok Sabha in July 2024.
“Inclusion of any sport discipline in the Olympic Games is decided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Among other things, IOC has prescribed that a sport discipline must be governed by an International Federation which undertakes to follow the rules of the Olympic Charter and it must also be practised widely across the world and meet various criteria,” he added.
Hence, the Global Pravasi Women’s Kabaddi League represents the first step toward realizing the country’s ambitions, including the aspiration to host the 2036 Olympics and to have Kabaddi included as an official Olympic sport. The schedule for the Global Pravasi Women’s Kabaddi League (GKPL) will be revealed in due course. (ANI)