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The Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) has called an emergency meeting of its general council on 27 December to inquire into the participation of national player Ubaidullah Rajpur in a private tournament held in Bahrain.
The issue arose after Rajput, who is a prominent international Kabaddi player, was seen wearing an Indian jersey and waving the Indian flag.
Videos and images of Ubaidullah wearing the Indian kit during the GCC Kabaddi Cup held on December 16 at the Gulf Air Club in Salmabad went viral on social media.
Following this, PKF secretary Rana Sarwar took strong exception to the incident, stating that teams were given names despite the event being private.
“No official Pakistan team was sent and no permission was granted,” he said.
“Action would also be taken against those who falsely represented a ‘Pakistan’ team at the tournament,” he said.
Meanwhile, PKF chairman Chaudhry Shafay Hussain ordered an investigation into the matter and vowed to take action against those responsible.
Ubaidullah, on the other hand, issued a public apology on social media, stating that he was unaware that the private team he had been invited to join would be labelled as ‘India’.
He explained that it was a local annual cup and not an official India-Pakistan contest.
“I only realised how the match was being portrayed after hearing slogans from the crowd,” he remarked in a video statement.
Ubaidullah further requested the commentator to clarify that the match was a club-level event rather than a bilateral contest.
“It was just a cup, not a World Cup, and this is not how a World Cup happens. If it had been a World Cup, I would definitely have played for Pakistan. I am Pakistani,” he reiterated.
“If my actions have hurt anyone’s feelings, I apologize.” “I apologize to my federation, my coach, and my supporters,” Ubaidullah concluded.
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