Bangladesh will host the IKF Women鈥檚 Kabaddi World Cup 2025 at the Shaheed Suhrawardy National Indoor Stadium in Dhaka from November 15 to 25, as the Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation made the announcement during a press conference at the Bangladesh Olympic Association auditorium on Thursday.
The second edition of the women鈥檚 kabaddi world event, initially set to take place in Hyderabad, India, from 3rd to 13th August, will now occur after a 13-year hiatus since the inaugural edition was held in India in 2012.
In the 16-team first edition, Bangladesh women鈥檚 team ended up losing to Japan 17-15 in the quarter-finals.
For this edition, apart from Bangladesh, 13 teams鈥擜rgentina, Chinese Taipei, Germany, the Netherlands, Iran, India, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Nepal, Thailand, Uganda, and Zanzibar鈥攈ave so far confirmed their participation, while Pakistan and Poland are yet to do so.
鈥楾he International Kabaddi Federation offered us to host the event soon after it was postponed, and we responded positively after the discussions with the sports ministry and the National Sports Council,鈥� said BKF general secretary SM Nawaz Shohag.
Shohag also informed that the federation estimated a budget of Tk 10.44 crore for hosting the event, and the ministry of youth and sports assured to provide Tk 5 crore while the remaining amount will have to be managed through sponsorships.
The draw of the competition will be finalised two to three days before the start of the event.
However, Bangladesh national women鈥檚 Kabaddi team members are currently preparing themselves for the event through training at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan.
Despite Kabaddi being the national game of this country, Bangladesh are currently in fifth position in world rankings.
The BKF vice-president and IG prison Brig Gen Syed Muhammad Motahar Hussain and the NSC executive director Kazi Nazrul Islam also spoke on the occasion.
