Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Over 12 years have passed since the then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced at an event at the TT Nagar Stadium in Bhopal that a Kabaddi Academy would come up in the state.
But the announcement remains on the paper and no efforts have been made in this direction by the government. The MP Sports and Youth Welfare Department (DSYW) runs 11 sports academies in the state including equestrian, water sports, martial arts, badminton, shooting and cricket, but kabbadi - the most popular indigenous game of the state - is yet to get an academy.
Kabaddi is the third most-watched game in India after cricket and hockey. India is making constant efforts to win an international status for kabbadi. It has been included in the Asian Youth Games 2025, to be hosted by Bahrain in October this year.
“A kabaddi academy will definitely help players from the state as it would enable them to focus only on excelling in the game, besides being assured of proper coaching and the needed diet,” said patron of the MP Kabaddi Association, Mohan Chauhan. Many national-level kabaddi players from the state come from the economically weaker sections of society and can’t afford the required diet, said Chauhan.
The MP Kabaddi Association, founded in 1975, has 70 units in the state, each having around 60 senior men and around 35 senior women players. Around 2,500 kabaddi players from the state have played in state and national tournaments with many achievements to their credit. The Association organises sub-junior, junior, senior and U-18 Kabaddi state championship tournaments every year.
According to Nirmal Gaud, a kabaddi coach from Madhya Pradesh, posted at the Sports Authority of India Regional Centre in Guwahati, the SAI Excellence Centre in Bhopal does not provide coaching in Kabaddi. “That makes it even more important for the state to have its own academy,” he said.
MP Kabaddi Association's secretary JC Sharma said, "MP Kabaddi Association has sent sent reminders to chief minister’s office about the implementation of the announcement but all in vain".
