The secretary of the PKF, Mohammad Sarwar, in a letter, copy of which was made available to Dawn, maintained “The PKF is headed by Senator Chaudhary Shujjat Hussain and is the official body recognised by the Pakistan Olympic Association, Pakistan Sports Board, Asian Kabaddi Federation and International Kabaddi Federation.”
Sarwar, further insisted “A so-called kabaddi federation from India has extended a fake invitation to their counterparts in Pakistan,” adding, “The PKF has nothing to do with this fake body and it will also not be responsible for their conduct on and off the field.”
The former national kabaddi player, Sarwar, said the Indian Kabaddi Federation had also been briefed over the 'fake invitation' extended to the unregistered sports body in Pakistan.
Sarwar, when asked to comment over the development, told Dawn “We have learnt through a news item appeared in local press and after a probe initiated by the PKF, it was revealed that around 20 local amateur players will be travelling to India and appear in 15 kabaddi matches.”
He said the Pakistani citizens in guise of players were supposed to travel to Himachal Pardesh, Haryana, New Delhi and few other cities.
Answering a question, he said “We have informed the Pakistan Sports Board and requested them to convey their concerns to the Foreign Ministry and the departments concerned.”
Sarwar claimed that if the immature kabaddi players were allowed to travel to India it would have a negative impact on the registered sports bodies.
Answering a question he said “Several parallel bodies will attempt to travel on fake invitations to foreign countries if we [PKF] failed to stop the current tour.” He warned if the tour of fake kabaddi organisation underwent without any hassle his federation would seek the help of country's human trafficking cell, working under the Federal Investigation Agency.
