Nothing is well in Indian Kabaddi. The Ameteur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) is facing a tough time as the Delhi High Court has appointed an Administrator to oversee the selection of players in the Men’s and Women’s team for the Asian Games.
The Delhi apex court has decided to have a face-off between the national teams and the players who were not selected. The date for the clash is on 16th September 2018. It is for the first time that the Indian Kabaddi team is facing such a challenge.
Giving details about the match, advocate B S Nagar for the petitioner, former India international Mahipal Singh, said, “The game will be between the men and women players who represented India at the Asian Games and those who were not picked. They will be from those who attended the national camp. It doesn’t say that the people who were part of the Asian Games team have to compulsorily participate, but it is left to the good conscience of the players.”
The selection of the national team for the Asian Games at Jakarta faced criticism from the beginning. This was further instigated by Ajay Thakur, skipper of the Men’s team, when he blamed the loss on the selection mess. He also launched a verbal attack on AKFI for its flawed selection procedure.
The Court has appointed retired judge Justice S. P. Garg as Administrator of AKFI to run its affairs until further order. As per the court order, players from across the country will appear for trials in front of the Administrator. Justice SP Garg (retired) will oversee the proceedings along with sports ministry officials.
The High Court had observed that there was an anarchy prevailing in the affairs of the AKFI and even if both the Men’s and Women’s teams had won gold in Jakarta, they would have had to take this decision. Last month, the High Court had quashed the appointment of Janardan Singh Gahlot and his wife as Life President and President of AKFI.
