IKF plans Kabaddi World Cup and eight-team women’s franchise league

The International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) announced on Sunday, 1 November, that it is working on plans to stage a Kabaddi World Cup and to launch a franchise-based women’s league. The announcement followed the federation’s first Executive Committee meeting, held in Hyderabad.

Both projects sit inside a bigger ambition. IKF president Kasani Gnaneshwar said the larger goal is to get kabaddi included in the 2030 Commonwealth Games and the 2036 Olympic Games. The federation described the World Cup and the women’s league as plans for the near future, and gave no dates, venues or formats for either competition.

Women’s league will copy the Pro Kabaddi League template

The women’s league will follow the Pro Kabaddi League model, built around franchises, and the IKF is targeting eight teams for the inaugural edition.

The federation did not name any franchise owners, host cities, player pools or a launch window. It also did not say how players would be allocated to teams or whether the league would be open to overseas players. Those details will decide how quickly the idea moves from plan to fixture list.

Countries invited to bid for the World Cup

On the World Cup, the IKF has invited countries keen on hosting the tournament to submit proposals. No deadline for bids, shortlist or target year for the first edition under these plans was announced.

The meeting itself had a wide spread of nations at the table. Representatives from Australia, Egypt, Turkmenistan, Canada, Kenya, Denmark, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Netherlands and England took part. Gnaneshwar also said that 62 new countries have joined the IKF as members, a figure that underlines the federation’s attempt to present kabaddi as a genuinely global sport rather than a South Asian one.

Gnaneshwar points to Iran as proof that the sport can spread

Gnaneshwar argued that greater international recognition would inspire more people around the world to take up kabaddi. He stressed that it would also encourage countries to set aside dedicated funds for the sport’s development, which is where multi-sport recognition at the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics would matter most.

He cited Iran as the example of what investment and coaching can achieve, and said India had played a part in Iran’s rise.

“Iran was not this good at kabaddi before. India sent the coaches there; they worked hard there, and now they are good enough to compete with India. Similarly, we need other countries to also develop, for the good of the sport,” Gnaneshwar said.

He said he hoped other nations would develop in the same way in the years ahead. For a sport seeking a place at the Olympics, the depth of competition beyond its traditional powers is likely to be as important as the size of its membership list, and the president’s comments placed coaching exchanges at the centre of that effort.

What comes next

The immediate next step is on the World Cup, where interested countries must now submit hosting proposals to the IKF. The federation has not said when it will review bids or name a host. For the women’s league, the IKF has set its target of eight franchises, but it has yet to announce owners, a venue or a start date.