Interim kabaddi body formed, elections soon

NEW DELHI: Telangana’s Kasani Gnaneshwar Mudiraj and Tejasvi Singh of Rajasthan were elected interim president and secretary-general, respectively of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) on Friday. The elections were held under the supervision of Delhi’s retired district and sessions judge Neeraj Kumar Gupta who was the retuning officer. SM Bali from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was the observer.

Last year, acting on a PIL filed by former international players, C Honnappa Gowda and S Rajarathinam, who alleged manipulation by long-time AKFI administrator JS Gehlot, the Delhi High Court appointed justice SP Garg (retd) as administrator to prepare the electoral college list for fresh elections. The court removed Gehlot and declared AKFI elections held in 2013 and 2017 as illegal.

The primary role of the newlyelected office-bearers, according to Justice Garg, will be to amend the AKFI statute as per the court’s direction. “Thereafter, the second round of AKFI elections will be held,” he said.