PESHAWAR: The Pakistan International Super Kabbadi League will be held in March next year, secretary general of the Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) Rana Mohammad Sarwar said here on Thursday.

Sarwar, who is also general secretary of the Asian Kabaddi Federation, disclosed that the Pakistan Super Kabaddi League would be organised for the first time in the game’s history.

More than 100 players representing teams from Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Quetta will be staged at Islamabad’s Jinnah Sports Complex.

The PKF was sponsoring the league in which every contesting player would be given Rs0.3 million as an incentive, he said.

“Players from foreign countries will also be part of the contesting teams. We are working on a plan to have foreign players in the league,” Sarwar said.

Responding to a question, the PKF secretary general said the decision of not including Pakistan in the World Cup organised by India was shocking.

Sarwar added: “I was approached by the World Kabaddi Federation to shift the event to Pakistan [if it is willing to host] but we regretted because we needed a huge amount of money to hold the World Cup in Pakistan.”

Meanwhile, Sarwar said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly Bannu, was full of kabaddi talent and famous for its kabaddi players.

He also lauded the role of Pir Barkat Shah, the KP Kabaddi Association president, for diligently working to promote the sport across the province.

“The 2017 National Kabaddi Championship will be organised in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Now it is up to the KP Kabaddi Association to decide where they want to hold it, in Peshawar or outside of it,” said Sarwar.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2016