The Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal today announced that 6th World Cup Kabaddi (WCK) -2016 will be organised from November 3 to 17, 2016 at 14 stadia in the state. The opening ceremony of WCK-2016 would be held at Roopnagar and closing ceremony at Jalalabad (Fazilka). Disclosing this here today, the Deputy Chief Minister, 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. S. Badal said that the matches would be played at 14 different stadiums in 14 districts.Divulging more, the Deputy Chief Minister said that during this mega event teams from 14 nations in men’s and women’s section would compete for the title. The winner in men’s category would get richer by Rs. 2 crore, followed by Rs. 1 crore to runner up. In women’s' category, the winning team would get Rs. 1 crore and runner 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, S. Badal said that successful organization of 5 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, S. 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 & 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.