47% of those who went to play kabaddi in Canada never returned

chandigarh

Updated: Dec 22, 2018 15:31 IST

Forty seven per cent of the Indian players, mostly Punjabis, who went to Canada to participate in various kabaddi tournaments between 2015 and 2017 chose to stay put in the country, with the majority of them obtaining work permits.

These tournaments were of circle-style kabaddi which is played mainly in Punjab and parts of Haryana.

Of the 261 players who entered Canada during these three years, 138 (53%) reported back to the migration office in Chandigarh and 123 did not return, revealed a study by Immigration Canada and published recently by Lexbase, a journal on current immigration policy and practice information. Of those who stayed put, 67 obtained work permits, three claimed asylum while 53 were reported as untraced.

Lexbase editor Richard Kurland told HT that they obtained a copy of the report (prepared in February 2018) under the Access to Information Act.

The report says a total of 78 applications of kabaddi players were approved for four federations in 2017 alone. Of this, 48 (62%) players reported back, 23 (30%) obtained work permit, six (8%) did not report back and one made inland asylum claim.

“The rate of return was 42% in 2015 and 62% in 2017. The rate of persons obtaining work permit (unrelated to kabaddi) was 21% in 2015 and 30% in 2017,” the report adds.

“The migration office in Chandigarh receives most of the temporary resident applications from kabaddi players wishing to play in Canada. Pilot kabaddi programs have been there from 2008 to 2011 and 2015 to 2017. The refusal rate in 2014 when there was no pilot programme was 65%,” the report says.

The report pointed out that the kabaddi players applying are mostly young, single, unemployed men with limited economic prospects in their home country.

“It is difficult to gauge a player’s skill, especially in a sport like kabaddi. Misrepresentation and fraudulent documentation are a matter of concern,” the report underlines.

Kurland said the issue raises enforcement and political concerns in Canada as there is no systematic way to differentiate between genuine and fraud applications of kabaddi players.

Of those whose applications are rejected complain to the MPs and this is taken seriously by politicians because of the influence of the highly organised Indo-Canadian voting bloc, he added.

A kabaddi promoter said there is nothing illegal in obtaining work permit as players can earn more money apart from playing the sport.