SBP and World Kabaddi League signs a MoU

Lahore: Sports Board Punjab (SBP) and World Kabaddi League (WKL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to hold WKL matches jointly in a befitting manner here at Chief Minister Secretariat on Thursday.

Director General Sports Punjab (SBP) Usman Anwar and Senior Advisor to Indian Punjab Chief Minister Puneet Singh Chandhok signed the documents. Punjab Minister for Law and Sports Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan and Indian Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats Sikander Singh Behniwal, Advisor to Prime Minister Saud Majeed, MPAs Ms Tahia Noon and Majid Zahoor were also present on this occasion.

Punjab Minister for Law and Sports Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan told the media that it was a historic occasion when our kabaddi team is going to represent country in the mega event of World Kabaddi League. “It was the vision of Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif to engage the youth of the country in positive and healthy activities. Now we can claim that we managed to make our youth busy in sporting activities. Our performance has made all the critics silent,” he described.

Mashhood informed that Lahore and Faisalabad will host WKL matches in Pakistan on November 21, to 23, 2014. The Indian encounters will be played at Mumbai, New Delhi and Haryana. “London and Birmingham are the British venues while Toronto and New York will hold Canada’s and American WKL matches respectively,” he explained.

He said that the mega event will be played under the league system. “Every team will play 14 matches each during the World Kabaddi League,” he added. “The initial matches of the event will be staged in England in August. America and Canada will organize WKL matches in September while Pakistani and Indian kabaddi enthusiasts will be able to watch WKL clashes in October and November,” he described.

Mashhood told that Indian film stars Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, singer Yo Yo Honey Singh and several other stars will also visit Pakistan to watch WKL matches.

Earlier, Advisor to Prime Minister Saud Majeed presented the welcome speech and apprised the media about the services and contributions of Pakistan in the field of kabbadi. He said that kabaddi has emerged as a major crowed pulling game in the world. “The relations between Pakistan and India will also improve with the frequent visits of sporting teams of the two countries,” he added.

In his address, Puneet Singh Chandhok congratulated the entire Pakistan nation for sending a team in the grand World Kabaddi League event. “WKL is a major step to introduce the game of kabaddi in the five continents of the world. The proposal of organizing some of the WKL matches in Dubai is also under consideration,” he disclosed.

Speaking on the occasion, Sikander Singh Behniwal said that the game of kabaddi was started by Pakistan and India but now it was spreading throughout the world. “Pakistan and India jointly decided to organize a kabaddi world cup in 2011 but until now we have organised four world events which is quite heartening,” he added.