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Kabbadi doping fallout
Fifty-three players at the Second World Cup of Kabaddi, including eight from Canada, won’t be getting any of the prize money from the tournament which was wrecked by a doping scandal that was highlighted by the South Asian Post newspaper last year.
The 14-team tournament last November organised by the Punjab government promised over a million dollars in prize money.
Among those who tested positive were one each from India, Pakistan, Germany and Argentina, three from Norway, six from Australia, seven each from Spain and Italy, eight each from USA and Canada and 10 from United Kingdom.
The kabaddi players accused of doping are from several different countries, including Britain, the United States, Italy, Spain, Australia, Norway, Germany, Argentina, India and Pakistan. All of them were barred from further participation in the event, which was won by India.
According to sources, the total prize money at the tournament was Rs 5.21 crore. (one crore is 10 million rupees or about C$200,000). While Rs 3.98 crore was paid to the winners, the rest was not released because the winners were disqualified from the tournament after they tested positive for doping. This amounts to 29 per cent of the total participants.
The biggest cut was for the team from Canada, as the Canadian men’s kabaddi team was to be given Rs 1 crore as prize money — it had stood second in the tournament. The team, however, only got Rs 38.85 lakh (one Lakh is 100,000 rupees or about C$2,000) in prize money.
As each team had 14 members, the money was to be divided equally among them. However, the prize money of eight Canadian players, who tested positive, was deducted. Also, 15 per cent prize money for the entire team was confiscated. As per rules, 15 per cent of the prize money of a team will be deducted if more than six players test positive.
The tournament organizers had asked for samples of 220 players during the kabaddi championship, of which 53 either tested positive or declined to give their samples, officials said, adding approximately 90 per cent of the positive tests have been for steroids.
Canadian team officials while admitting the problem was serious said the Canadian athletes tested positive for substances other than steroids.
They players apparently were not aware of the substances they couldn’t take.
Most of 14 members of the Canadian team were from British Columbia and Ontario, where the Canada’s four kabaddi federations are located.
The “Kabbadi World Cup” —is not officially recognised as there is no international governing body for the sport.
Kabaddi involves an individual player raiding the opposition team’s territory while chanting “kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi” until he runs out of breath.
His opponents, who generally hold hands, try to snare him and stop him from returning to his home base.
Sports doping has become a major issue in India and authorities have had to impose stern testing regimes.
Correspondents say that because kabaddi has no national or international governing body, anti-doping measures among the 14 teams taking part in the World Cup are much harder to enforce.
The lack of regulatory bodies in the sport has also led some critics to complain that teams participating in the tournament do not represent their countries.
Meanwhile, India clinched the first women's Kabaddi World Cup championship title, defeating Iran 25-19 in the final played at Patlipura sports complex at Kankerbagh in Patna last weekend.
India outclassed Japan 60-21 while Iran defeated Thailand 46-26 in the two semifinals to set up a summit clash.
Canada’s team was knocked out earlier in the four-day tournament. Other teams were from Korea, Nepal, Mexico, America, Italy, Turkmenistan, Taipei, Malaysia and Oman.
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