ISLAMABAD: After India’s inability to participate in the Circle Kabaddi event, slated to be held on April 2 at the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF), the Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) has decided to convert the international event into a national championship.

The PKF had invited India, Iran and Afghanistan to feature in the Circle Kabaddi event at Wah Cantt, however, due to documentation and clearance issues, India’s participation remained doubtful.

The PKF now said there were little chances of India’s participation. “Our last ditch efforts are still underway, but you can say that there are little chances of India’s participation in this mega event,” PKF secretary Mohammad Sarwar said.

“Meanwhile, we have decided to hold the 38th national championship on the same dates,” he added.

Asked about Iran and Afghanistan’s participation, Sarwar added that the PKF was more interested in India’s participation than those two countries.

“So, if India is not coming, we are not going to invite Iran and Afghanistan, rather we are going to hold a national championship, in which 12 national teams will participate,” he said.

The participating teams are defending champions Wapda, Army, Police, Railway, Higher Education Commission, Sui Gas, Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), requesting not to be named, said that on the PKF request, the PSB had issued a No-Objection Certificate for India’s participation.

“After, issuing the NOC, we forwarded the case to the Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) for final approval. IPC and the Interior Ministry are competent authorities to issue final NOC,” the official said and added that the process always took a long time.

“Even if clearance is given on Monday, just two days before commencement of the event, then I don’t think India will show any interest to apply for visas, which is also a time taking process. Therefore, there are little chances of their participation,” the official concluded.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2015

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