Kabaddi has benefitted from a professionally run league but the sport’s administration in India is mired in court cases which, former India skipper Ajay Thakur said, is doing no one any good.

‘’The Pro Kabaddi League has raised the profile of the individuals but we shouldn’t lose our grip at the continental level,’’ said Thakur, an Arjuna award winner.

At 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, India’s men failed to retain the gold for the first time since 1990 when the sport was introduced. They got bronze. The women’s team got silver. The India women’s team had won gold in 2010, when the sport was introduced, and 2014 Games.

India participated in the South Asian Games in Nepal last December but the under-20 team missed the inaugural junior World Kabaddi Championship in Iran last November.

“It would have been good preparation for the next Asian Games. The sooner we find a solution to all the legal issues, the better for the development of the sport,” said Thakur who is from Himachal Pradesh.

In the absence of national federation, the state units become dormant, said Thakur.

“The senior national competition is being organised but there is no focus at the sub-junior (u-16) level,” said Haryana’s Rambir Singh Khokhar, a former Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach and Dronacharya award winner.

Trouble began at Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) in 2018. Acting on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by Mahipal Singh, a former international, the Delhi High Court appointed retired judge SP Garg as administrator to hold fresh elections as per the National Sports Code of 2011. That has not happened yet.

Rajasthan’s Janardan Singh Gehlot was president of AKFI for more than two decades. In May 2013, Gehlot became life president and was succeeded by his wife Mridula. The 2018 court order quashed the election.

Asked about the possibility of holding the fresh elections, Garg said there has been no delay at his end but he is waiting for the court order. ‘’There is a stay on the elections in Delhi High Court. The moment all is clear, fresh dates will be announced,’’ he said.

The administrator had prepared the electoral list for elections scheduled on September 1, 2019. But AC Thangavel, a player from Tamil Nadu, petitioned the Delhi High Court claiming that the list had members who were not eligible to vote. The elections were stayed on August 27 and case is pending in court.

On holding the Pro Kabaddi league this year, Garg said it is difficult to conduct a competition in contact sport in the time of Covid-19. “We can’t take the risk now,” he said.