Kabaddi players, PKF seek recognition

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan broke India’s stranglehold in kabaddi to win their first World Cup title, Pakistan Kabaddi Federation Secretary Mohammad Sarwar Rana has called on the government and private sector to make the victory count in a big way.

Talking to ‘The News’ following Pakistan’s triumph in a nail-biting final against arch-rivals India on Sunday, Sarwar, who is also Asian Kabaddi Federation’s secretary, said now the players and PKF deserved a hero’s treatment.

“We beat four-time world champions in a close contest. Our players played their hearts out against a powerful Indian team. Now they deserve better treatment — encouragement from the government and private sector. These players deserve the same support that is extended to cricket and hockey teams,” he said.

Sarwar said it was very difficult to beat India. “Winning the World Cup is the ultimate achievement and we want to make it count. Our achievement should be recognised.”

The PKF secretary said his federation gets only Rs1.2 million as annual grant from the government. “It is almost 100 times less than what India’s federation gets from its government. Besides that, their corporate sector under the government’s instructions is investing heavily in kabaddi. Our kabaddi players hardly get any financial support from any sector.”

Sarwar feared that if the corporate sector and government do not come forward this time the traditional sport would never get its due. “The World Cup was held after six years and we have won it. Now it is up to the government and corporate sector to help us further popularise the sport.”

He said the victory was a result of tough training and hard work. “We knew beating a quality Indian team would not be easy. Their players get all the benefits and they only concentrate on playing kabaddi. Our players don’t receive any financial backing, so the only way was to work really hard. Ours was a new-look team that included only four players from the previous World Cup and they performed brilliantly.”

He appealed to the Prime Minister to invite the World Cup winning team to the PM House and announce some attractive reward. “If we want to popularise this traditional sport amongst youth and encourage our players for future international events including the next year World Cup, we need to boost the players’ morale.”

The PKF secretary also thanked Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar for supporting and helping the Pakistan Kabaddi Federation in organising the World Cup.