Kabaddi is one of the most favourite sports played in India, and it is considered to be one of the richest in its history. It is an action-packed fast-paced game where strength, strategy, and skill together win. With such widespread popularity mainly in India, however, Kabaddi is still not a part of the Olympic Games. Many sports enthusiasts and Kabaddi fans often wonder: Why Kabaddi is not a part of the Olympics? One of the most debated topics involves exclusion from the Olympics, but when you think of how fast the sport is growing at both the national and international levels, you have to wonder.
Here, in this blog post, we dig out the reasons why Kabaddi is not a part of Olympics? problems that the sport is facing, and how platforms like Kheloexch is helping it for its globalization. So, let’s deep dive into the intricacies of Kabaddi’s journey towards Olympic inclusion and why it has not happened yet.
What is Kabaddi?
To understand why Kabaddi is not a part of Olympics, it’s essential to know what Kabaddi is first. Kabaddi is one of the most popular Indian sports, in which two teams consisting of seven players each are engaged in the sport. The idea behind it is to make a player from one team, referred to as the “raider,” run across the half field of the opponent with whom he or she is playing and tag as many people as possible and return to his or her own half of the field without getting tackled. The game is played in a series of raids, and points are scored by successfully tagging opponents and avoiding their attempts to tackle the raider.
Kabaddi is a game that is based entirely on physical conduct – a blend of athleticism, agility, and strategic thinking. Kabaddi is basically wrestling and tag all together, with the raider having to hold his breath and chant “kabaddi, kabaddi” when he enters the opposing side. It has gained international recognition over the years such as the professional leagues in India-the Pro Kabaddi League-and international tournaments, including the Kabaddi World Cup. Despite this popularity, Kabaddi is not yet featured as an Olympic sport.
History of Kabaddi and its aspiration to Olympics
Kabaddi has been a part of the Indian culture since centuries and dates back to ancient times. The game has undergone various changes with India having different versions at various areas. It was first played in the tournament format in India in the 1930s and came into international recognition in the early years of the 1970s.
The International Kabaddi Federation was established way back in 2004. The sport, gradually, received recognition from the world in general. Still, though Kabaddi sport gained worldwide popularity and recognition and appeared at multi-sport events like Asian Games, Kabaddi is not featured in the Olympics.
One of the primary reasons Kabaddi is not included in the Olympics is that the process for including an Olympic sport is pretty long and very competitive. The International Olympic Committee, IOC has pretty strict criteria in terms of what is considered for inclusion in the Olympic Games, and in order for Kabaddi to be considered, it needed to meet these criteria. Next, let us take a closer look at some of the key reasons why Kabaddi is not a part of Olympics?
Why Kabaddi Is Not a Part of Olympics?
Reasons:
1. Low Popularity Worldwide and Unpopularity
As rich as its history is, Kabaddi as such hasn’t gained global recognition yet to entitle it to become an Olympic sport. The IOC always prefers sports which show popularity in almost all continents, with a reasonable number of countries involved in playing the sport concerned.
For example, sports such as football, basketball, and athletics have been participated in all over the world for many decades. Kabaddi, on the other hand is still mostly limited to only South Asia and a few other countries. However, the popularity of Kabaddi is now increasing gradually in the United States, Canada, and UK. However, the sport is still relatively underrepresented internationally.
A sport will be considered for the Olympics if it has a large following in at least 75 countries and on four continents. Kabaddi is slowly gaining international momentum but remains below the required threshold. This is one of the main reasons that make Kabaddi an absent sport at the Olympics.
2. Limited Infrastructure and Infrastructure Support
Kabaddi as a sport, lacks infrastructures and funding that other Olympic sports enjoy. The game requires special arenas with demarcated fields of play, and for most nations, the absence of such arenas has marred the game’s development. Unlike tennis or swimming, Kabaddi does not carry huge international sponsors nor media attention, urgently required for improving its visibility at the world level.
The sport still requires adequate infrastructure to be at par with what is needed to be classified in the Olympics category of nations like India, where Kabaddi is extremely popular. In a country like India, where Kabaddi is increasingly gaining popularity with leagues such as Pro Kabaddi doing an excellent job in popularizing the game in India, Kabaddi still hasn’t reached the level of financial and logistical support that other Olympic sports have attained.
3. Lack of professionalism and international competition
It is one that needs to have a well-established professional structure and international competitions to be an Olympic sport. While Kheloexch has provided the platform around Kabaddi for betting and fantasy games, as well as leagues like PKL, Kabaddi still lacks the level of competition that is there in other Olympic sports.
The absence of a strong professional league in most countries means that many Kabaddi talents do not have outlets at the highest levels, thus reducing talent pool opportunities and making it even more challenging to evolve into a truly global community around the sport.
While Kabaddi has international competitions such as the Kabaddi World Cup, it lacks regular competitions necessary to show its level of appeal worldwide. The IOC seeks sports that have a regular and competitive international calendar, something Kabaddi has not yet fully achieved.
4. Complexity in the Rules and Format
The Kabaddi game is quite complex, with its set of rules that many would term as a lot of confusion for people who do not know much about the game. As if basketball and football would be like this were the case; the rules are simplistic and easier to remember. For Kabaddi, however, the players have to hold their breath while reciting “kabaddi” and devise other complex strategies in order to defeat the opponent.
The breath control and strategic movements involved in the game make it hard for the newly acquired fans to understand the finer nuances of the game. That complexity can help restrict Kabaddi’s appeal towards a more extensive international audience. IOC tends to favour games that are easy to understand. This increases the chances of the sport gathering more fans and participants.
5. Politics and Bureaucracy in the Governance of Sports
Like most sports, Kabaddi faces vast problems in the domain of sports governance and politics. The International Kabaddi Federation, IKF has been marred by internal politics and has not been able to better consolidate different regional Kabaddi organizations. That Kabaddi’s induction into the Olympics has not been made a cinch partly owes to the fact that it lacks a universal world-governing body over the sport.
In fact, the IOC usually favours sports activities with a clear and uniting governing body to govern international competitions, standardize rules, and ensure fair play. Until Kabaddi addresses these organizational issues, its possibilities of securing Olympic status are highly restricted.
How Platforms Like Kheloexch Are Helping Kabaddi’s Growth
Though why Kabaddi is not a part of Olympics, not as popular as some sports wherein Indian-origin players have been making a splash, sites like Kheloexch are the perfect catalysts for the popularization of this sport and a wider international audience. Kheloexch is an online application that enables fans to engage with Kabaddi through fantasy sports, betting, and live match updates. With the integration of Kabaddi in its platform, Kheloexch is helping increase the visibility of the sport and engagement with a wider audience.
Kheloexch’s impact is crucial, especially to players and fans who want to keep closer to the sport. The platform does not merely offer a chance to bet on Kabaddi games but also teaches users about the rules and strategies of the sport so new fans can easily understand and appreciate the game.
It will be on Kheloexch, where Kabaddi keeps gaining momentum, hence leading to more sponsorships, international leagues, and better infrastructure- the winning factors that pave the path to Olympic Games.
Conclusion
Why Kabaddi is not a part of Olympics? Why Kabaddi is far from becoming an Olympic sport? It is a multi-layered issue because the root reasons for it lie deep in globalization, infrastructure, international competition, and sports administration. Actually, Kabaddi, despite its popularity within South Asia, still has a long way to go to fulfil global outreach. Nevertheless, awareness and engagement through platforms like Kheloexch are setting Kabaddi on the promising highway.
With Kabaddi going further international and more countries accepting the sport, its day in the Olympics is not far away. Till then, Kabaddi can bank on thrills to come with something like PKL, and platforms like Kheloexch will keep such sports in the limelight.
Supported with ever-growing strength, and across international phases, Kabaddi can be a part of the Olympic world of sports one day. The sport continues its journey, and its ardent fan base will keep the flame burning bright until that day.
