Kabaddi is seeing an unprecedented growth around the world and World Kabaddi is immensely happy to note the role of our own affiliates in promoting and developing the sport.
While the past two years has been trying in terms of moving our agenda forward due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we were still able initiate a number of activities.
These includes the online training programmes for technical officials, webinar on sports sponsorship, World Kabaddi Awards and the restructuring of the World Kabaddi and regional body administration.
We had conducted the African and European Kabaddi Championships in Tanzania and Cyprus respectively. We had also welcomed new national members to add to our growing kabaddi family.
We had also managed to gain membership to The Association for International Sports for All (TAFISA), underlining our continued recognition in the international front,
The year 2022 will mark a new chapter in World Kabaddi. It is a year that we need to continue building on what we had started on our journey that started four years ago.
The journey over the past four years has made us all the more stronger and wiser in our continuing effort in developing the sports more holistically. We have had our fair share of detractors and those who were waiting for us to fail. But our common drive to push the sport of kabaddi to a higher status has prevailed.
Despite still struggling to gain a stronger financial backing, World Kabaddi and its membership has proven itself with positive actions.
Argentina will host the inaugural Pan American championships in March this year and this will be major step forward for kabaddi. Adding to this will be the start of the British Kabaddi League in February with the support of BBC. This is indeed another feather in the cap for World Kabaddi and will help propagate kabaddi to the next level in Europe.
2022 will also be the year when we need to elect the new leadership to bring World Kabaddi forward. Plans are afoot to host the General Body meeting during the 2nd World Cup Kabaddi to be held later in the year.
I hope that together all of us can write a new chapter for the sport of kabaddi worldwide in the coming year. There is no doubt that there is so much to be excited and optimistic about as we look to the future.
The road ahead may yet be rocky but together we can achieve what we had set out to do, a unified kabaddi. One Vision, One Dream, One Kabaddi.
We will be celebrating the World Kabaddi Day on March 24 and for this year, the secretariat has suggested the theme of “KABADDI: STRONGER TOGETHER”.
Let us take the opportunity to show our unity in strength by celebrating kabaddi in 2022 being stronger together.
On behalf of the Executive Committee of World Kabaddi, I would like to wish each and every one of you – players, coaches, administrators, technical officials, donors, sponsors, well-wishers, fans – a Blessed and Happy New Year!
From the Desk of
Ashok Das
President
World Kabaddi