Kabaddi fixing claims rubbished

Pakistan Olympic Association official denies wrongdoing in World Cup final.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) have played down the kabaddi fixing claims while denying that the Pakistan team underperformed in the World Cup final.

The claims were made by the former Punjab Kabaddi Association secretary Chaudhry Muhammad Ejaz when he accused the team of deliberately losing the final to India earlier this year.

“The claims have no substance and have no worth,” POA Director-General Muhammad Afzal told The Express Tribune. “We have a lot of accusation coming from various quarters but we can’t just go and launch an investigation for every claim. We have to look into the credibility of the accuser before initiating any probe. This is a one-sided claim.”

Ejaz, himself a former kabbadi player, even accused the Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) officials of being part of the corruption scam and using players for their cause. The accusation war started between Ejaz and the PKF officials when the federation rubbished the claims and accused Ejaz for forming a fake team  for international tours.

“Ijaz Hussian Jakhrani [the sports minister] has taken a notice of the claim and will talk to the PKF president, who is also a senior politician,” said a PSB spokesperson. “In the meantime, no investigation has been launched by the PSB to probe his claim.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2010.