The Pakistan Kabaddi team has been barred from competing in the Kabaddi World Cup 2016, starting this week in Ahmedabad, India, the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) confirmed on Wednesday.

The World Cup is kickstarting with formidable Iran taking on against the new-comers the United States. The other nations participating in the world cup are Australia, South Korea, England, Poland, Kenya and Argentina.

The chief of the IKF, Deoraj Chaturvedi told an international news channel, “This is not the right time to engage with Pakistan. Pakistan is a valuable member of the IKF but looking at the current scenario and in the best interest of both the nations, we decided that Pakistan must be refrained from the championship.”

Reacting to the decision Pakistan Kabaddi Federation Secretary, Rana Muhammad Sarwar said, “We have called a meeting to discuss this issue but let me tell you that a Kabaddi World Cup is no world cup without Pakistan.”

Pakistan added that if there were the security concerns, both the rival nations should have been excluded. It alleged that IKF is unfairly targeting the country.

Nasir Ali, Pakistan team’s captain said that his boys had been favorites to clinch the cup after defeating India at the six-nation Kabaddi cup held in Pakistan in May and last month’s Asian Beach Games in Vietnam.

By stating that the fans were being denied matches between the top two sides, Ali said, “We were hoping to win the world cup in India by beating India.”

The decision has come amid the tensions between India and Pakistan after the terrorist attacked army base in Uri, which killed 18 soldiers.

By Prajakt K.