The International Federation celebrated World Kabaddi Dayon March 21, 2023, at the Arab Contractor Club in Nasr City, Cairo.
Ashok Das, President of the International Kabaddi Federation,Dr. Osama Saeed, President of the Egyptian and African Confederation and Vice President of the World Federation,and Ajit Gupte, Indian Ambassador to Egypt, witnessed the event.
“The Egyptian Federation introduced this competition to invite the world federation to include people with special needs in the Global Federation’s events and competitions,” Saeed told The Egyptian Gazette.
He went on to say that the Egyptian Kabaddi Federation had organised a number of introductory seminars and training sessions in governorates, youth centres, and universities to raise awareness of the Kabaddi game.
Kabaddi is a contact team sport that is played by two teams of seven players each. The goal of the game is for a single offensive player, known as a “raider,” to run into the opposing team’s half of the court, touch out as many of their players as possible, and return to their own half of the court in 30 seconds without being tackled by the defenders. The game is simple to play and requires no special equipment.It is popular in the Indian subcontinent and other surrounding Asian countries.
Ashok Das, President of the International Kabaddi Federation, expressed his delight at the inclusion of people with special needs in this game, saying that these people need the opportunity.
Muhammad Riyad, the captain for people with special needs, emphasised the importance of sports for people with special needs because it helps to improve their mental state and keep them physically fit.
“We hope to found clubs nationwide and form a technical staff to select the best players to represent the national team and compete in international competitions,” Riyad told this paper.
The International Kabaddi Federation has decided that this year’s international celebration will be held in Egypt in recognition
of Egypt’s efforts in the sport of Kabaddi. Ajit Guptih, India’s Ambassador to Egypt, praised the spread of Indian-origin kabaddi in Egypt, saying that the sekinds of events promote co-operation between the two countries.
“Egypt and India share a wide range of sporting interests,and many Indian teams visited Cairo to compete against Egyptian teams in hockey, football, tennis, and a variety of other sports,” the Indian ambassador said.
Gupte shed some light on the two countries’ strong diplomaticties.
“The last visit of President El Sisi to India in January 2023 as a guest of honour at the celebrations of the Republic Day of India has given impetus to those relations in various fields,as a number of investors will invest $800 million in Egyptian investments in the coming years,” Gupte said.
