The Delhi High Court in a judgement on Friday ruled that the selection process for the Indian kabaddi teams (men’s and women’s) for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta was as an “eyewash” and ordered the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) to conduct a fair selection process that is in accordance to the National Sports Code of India.
Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, when asked about the national kabaddi team during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, said that the Sports Authority of India has been asked by the Delhi HC to take a look into the matter of the team selection of the kabaddi squad for the Asian Games.
Rathore said, “When teams represent India, the players are playing under the Indian flag, and therefore the federations must ensure a transparent selection process,”.
“The Delhi HC has directed that the selection process is overseen by the Sports Authority of India (SAI),” he continued. “After the team comes back from the Asian Games, we will certainly look into it, and the HC has also said that the federation now needs to be handed over to an administrator till the electoral roles are corrected.”
The Delhi HC had last week passed an order, which deemed the election process of the officials at the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) to be non-transparent. Rathore also went on to state that the Sports Ministry has taken steps to ensure that the Sports Code is followed, both at the national and the state levels.
“The Sports Code of 2011 lays down very specific guidelines as to how the elections will be conducted, and the government, through its observer, ensures that the Sports Code is followed, at least by the national federations,” said Rathore.
“The (Sports) Ministry has also written a letter to all the Chief Ministers of the country, requesting them to ensure that the state federations also adhere to the Sports Code.”
