Kabaddi is a sport that originated in India and is popular in many South Asian countries. It is played between two teams of seven players each, with five players on the court at any one time. The objective of the game is to score points by tagging or tackling opponents, without being tackled oneself. Kabaddi has been played at the Asian Games since 1990, but has yet to make an appearance at the Olympic Games. There are a number of reasons for this:
1) Kabaddi is not widely played outside of South Asia. While it is gaining popularity in other parts of the world, such as Europe and North America, it remains largely unknown elsewhere. This lack of global appeal makes it unlikely that kabaddi will be added to the Olympic program anytime soon.
2) Kabaddi requires a large amount of space – more than most other sports. An Olympic-sized kabaddi court would be much larger than a standard football or basketball pitch, making it impractical for use during the Games.
3) There are few professional kabaddi leagues in operation around the world. Without a strong professional circuit, it is difficult to identify talented athletes who could potentially compete at an Olympic level.
4) Kabaddi faces stiff competition from other sports vying for inclusion in the Olympics. With only a limited number of spots available on the program, it can be difficult for new sports to break through. For example, surfing was only recently added to the lineup for Tokyo 2020 – after years of campaigning by its fans and athletes.
While kabaddi may never become an Olympic sport, its growing popularity means that it could one day become part of the Paralympic program – which features adaptive versions of traditional sports competitions