Gujarat to host 2016 Kabaddi World Cup in October

The International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) on Monday announced that the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup will be hosted in Gujarat's leading city, Ahmedabad. The tournament is set to take place from October 7th and will conclude on 22nd of the same month.

Gujarat will play host to 12 Kabaddi teams from around the world including India, USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Iran, Poland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan and Kenya. A special consideration of the IKF in inviting these countries is to make the Kabaddi World Cup representative of all the five geographies of the Olympic Games.

The Kabaddi World Cup matches will be held in Ahmedabad's upcoming state-of-the-art stadium, The Arena by TransStadia.

IKF's decision to conduct the Kabaddi World Cup has received strong encouragement from the state government in Gujarat.

In a statement, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani has said, "We are delighted that the city of Ahmedabad will host the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup conducted by the International Kabaddi Federation. Our state extends enthusiastic support for showcasing this World Cup as a truly world class sports event, and draws inspiration from our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's call to take our nation ahead in every sport. As the world is witnessing the year of Olympics, Gujarat will like to lead this way for India in this objective."

Janardan Singh Gehlot, President, International Kabaddi Federation said, "The International Kabaddi Federation has worked to develop Kabaddi as a competitive discipline and is confident that our sport is all set to breakthrough on a global stage with the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, Ahmedabad. The phenomenal success of Pro Kabaddi and the participation of players from around the world is a testament to Kabaddi's promise as a world sport. We are grateful to the Govt of Gujarat for their support in this great endeavour."

A senior IKF official points out that the international kabaddi body is under considerable pressure from many more of its 32 member countries who wish to participate in the 2016 World Cup. Other than the 12 countries invited, countries like Argentina, Denmark, and Thailand are especially keen to attend.

"At this stage we have invited nations to give the best possible representation to each of the five Olympic geographies in the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, as well as the top ranked Asian countries. At the same time we will invite some of the others to Ahmedabad as observers to the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, and to join in IKF's future plans for Kabaddi around the world," stated the official.