The first-ever Global Women’s Kabaddi League called Global Pravasi Women’s Kabaddi League (GPKL), is slated to take place in September 2024, in Haryana, India. The League will bring together women athletes from over 15 nations, as the-of-its-kind tournament gets underway.
With an aim to promote the kabaddi on a global level, the GPKL serves as a major step towards the inclusion of Kabaddi in the Olympic Games and supporting India’s bid to host the Landmark event in 2036.
Organized by the Holistic International Pravasi Sports Association (HIPSA), in collaboration with World Kabaddi, a Memorandum of Understanding was recently signed between HIPSA and the Government of Haryana. Athletes from diverse backgrounds, including nations like England, Poland, Argentina, Canada, and Italy, have expressed their desire to feature in the League.
Kabaddi is the oldest sport and has been in the Indian subcontinent from time immemorial. It was included as a full sport in the Asian Games in 1990, with the women’s event introduced in 2010. The upcoming League not only aims to celebrate this rich heritage but also to inspire a new generation of women to take up the sport.
“The allotment of hosting rights for the Olympics is done by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through a detailed host selection process spelled out in the public domain. The IOC has a dedicated body, the Future Host Commission (FHC), which deals with this subject. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA), which is the NOC for India, has initiated the dialogue process with the FHC,” said Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, in a written reply.
“Among other things, IOC has prescribed that a sport discipline must be governed by an International Federation which undertakes to follow the rules of the Olympic Charter and it must also be practised widely across the world and meet various criteria,” he added.
