World Kabaddi Ties Up With Haryana State Government And HIPSA

The development of women’s kabaddi globally has received a massive boost with World Kabaddi forging a working relationship with the Haryana State Government and the Holistic International Pravasi Sports Association (HIPSA).

World Kabaddi has entered into two separate Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) that will see emphasis on the development and promotion of kabaddi among women around the world.

The first was a MOU outlining a ten-year strategic plan together with HIPSA to promote, develop and market kabaddi to the Indian diaspora internationally. Through this effort, both World Kabaddi and HIPSA are also hoping to get women of all races to take up kabaddi. The plan is not just confined to training players, but also in training women coaches, technical officials and administrators.

The second MOU was penned with the Haryana State government on a kabaddi sports exchange programme between the state and the growing World Kabaddi membership in all five continents.


A World Kabaddi delegation led by its president Ashok Das of England , vice-president Dr Osama Said of Egypt, Secretary General S.T. Arasu of Malaysia, executive member Perpetual Mbutu of Kenya and Kawal Kaur, the secretary of England Kabaddi Association, called upon the Haryana Chief Minister Shri Manohar Lal in New Delhi.

HIPSA president Kanti Suresh represented the organisation and was a vital cog in getting both the partnerships in place.

Shri Manohar Lal commended efforts to globally recognize Haryana’s indigenous sport of kabaddi.

The Chief Minister mentioned that kabaddi and wrestling have been played in every village in Haryana. He encouraged HIPSA and World Kabaddi representatives to promote kabaddi nationally and internationally, assuring full support from the Haryana government.

He expressed his passion for kabaddi, mentioning that it remains his favorite sport. He shared that during events like Raahgiri , he occasionally engages in kabaddi, inspiring others to participate.

The Chief Minister also conveyed that Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi would be pleased to learn about the initiative to establish global recognition for women’s kabaddi.

The Chief Minister, who is also the state Sports Minister emphasized that Haryana was already giving boost to the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao & Beti Khilao’ (Save the Girl, Educate the Girl, Let the Girl Play) programme and assured of cooperation in the campaign to boost women’s kabaddi further worldwide.

Haryana is believed to the birthplace of traditional kabaddi and is often referred to as sports capital of India.

HIPSA president Kanti, said that with Haryana’s support for the initiative, it will be a significant contribution in making kabaddi popular worldwide at a faster rate.


HIPSA is the first to organisation to be exclusively set up with an aim to promote and ‘Integrate’ the Indian diaspora youth into the country through the medium of sports with a special focus on sports that India is proud of.

She also cited the desire of the Indian Prime Minister, who had in the past expressed a desire to elevate kabaddi to a global level while discussing indigenous sports.

Kanti stated that India aspires to host the Olympics in 2036, and if that happens, kabaddi could be included as a part of the host country’s choice. She affirmed that HIPSA would provide complete support to World Kabaddi in spreading kabaddi globally.

World Kabaddi president Ashok Das sees the initiatives as another major step in making kabaddi a truly global sport and working towards getting the sport the much coveted Olympic status in the future.

Under the plan to be implemented together with HIPSA, twenty countries would be picked in the first phase in 2024 and adding twenty new countries to the list every year.

He said that the initiative would only be about kabaddi alone as with the support of Haryana it would also be an opportunity for the state to be the Indian cultural ambassadors.

World Kabaddi, which currently has more than 50 member countries, would also adopt 2024 as a year to highlight the development of women’s kabaddi.

The World Kabaddi Day, initiated by World Kabaddi and celebrated worldwide on March 24 every year since 2019, will adopt the theme Kabaddi: Created by men, Perfected by women to ignite the passion for the game among women worldwide.