CHANDIGARH, JULY 12 ; The sixth edition of the World Cup Kabaddi 2016 will be organised from November 3 to 17 at different venues in Punjab. The opening ceremony will be held at Roopnagar and closing ceremony at Jalalabad (Fazilka).
Disclosing this here today, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also holds sports portfolio, while presiding over a meeting of organising committee of World Cup Kabaddi along with the representatives of Punjab Kabaddi Association and senior state officials, gave his nod to the schedule of fortnight long sporting extravaganza. Sukhbir Badal said that the matches would be played at 14 different stadia in 14 districts.
Giving details of the WCK-2016,, the Deputy Chief Minister said that during this mega event teams from national teams of 14 countires in men’s and women’s section would compete for the title. The winners in men’s category would receive a cash prize of Rs. 2 crore, followed by Rs. 1 crore to the runners-up nation. In the women’s category, the winning team would get Rs. 1 crore and runners- up Rs. 51 lakh. Total prize money of around Rs. 7 crore would be up for grabs in this mega event.
The Deputy Chief Minister instructed the officers to ensure elaborate security arrangements, transportation, traffic and accommodation for the participating teams. To ensure the event remaining free from the taint of dope, Rs. 40 lakh have been sanctioned for dope tests and National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) has been requested to conduct random tests during the tournament. Besides, an anti dope committee has also been formed to ensure that the players should refrain from drugs.
Exuding confidence, Sukhbir Badal said that successful organization of last five editions of World Cup Kabbadi had encouraged the organization of World Kabbadi Leagues at national and international level which increased its fan base cutting across the boundaries. Highlighting the initiatives taken by Punjab government to promote sports, Sukhbir Badal said that Punjab is the first state in the country to create sports fund.
Prominent among others present in the meeting included Rural Development Minister and President Punjab Kabaddi Association Sikander Singh Maluka, Principal secretary to Deputy CM P.S. Aujla, principal secretary finance DP Reddy, principal secretary industries and CEO investment promotion Anirudh Tewari, ADGP Hardeep Singh Dhillon, Secretary Sports Vivek Partap, Special principal secretary to deputy CM Rahul Tewari, Manvesh Singh Sidhu and Ajay Mahajan and Director Sports Rahul Gupta.