Considering the circumstances, it was surprising that the Pro Kabaddi League organisers went ahead with including 10 players from Pakistan in its auction for the fifth season of the competition. Not surprisingly, no franchise bid for any of them.
“The final decision to permit them to play within Indian territory will rest with the Government of India. Unless Pakistan gets rid of terrorism, it is impossible to play,” Sports Minister Vijay Goel declared.
The Indian players, though, insisted that Pakistan’s presence would have been more than welcome. “As far as the league is concerned, I think it would be very good if Pakistan players come. Pakistan is a very strong team in kabaddi, we have to admit that. Also, for a predominantly Asian sport, if players from such a strong country are absent, it does affect the overall quality of the competition. The ultimate loss is for us players and the federation. As a sportsperson, I would want them to come here and play with us,” Anup Kumar declared.
While he admitted that making it a nationalistic debate would change the picture, he preferred to look at it only from a sporting perspective.
“Our job is to play, and if those players come here, both them and us will feel good. If they don’t come, then also we have a pretty good league. But then, they also need permission from their officials, and if they come, it will only help them improve and do better internationally,” Anup said.
Rahul Chaudhari insisted that sport and politics were completely different. “As far as the league is concerned, I think players from every country should come and play. League is different and the nation is different, and I don’t think we should mix the two,” he said.
PKL promoter Charu Sharma clarified that while granting visas was the government’s prerogative, it would have been unfair to not include Pakistanis in the auction.
“If we are talking about the best players in the world, some of the Pakistanis are among the best; we cannot deny that, and whether they are picked or not, they merit a place in the auction,” he said.
