A commendable response to Kabaddi from the audience in the State has helped in the selection of the city as the venue for matches of World Kabaddi league (WKl), said Raman Raheja, CEO of Wave WKl.

He said this while addressing the mediapersons in the city on Thursday.

Honey Singh, Sonakshi Sinha and other team owners would be present to encourage their teams during the three days non-stop Kabaddi for the Kabaddi lovers, he added.

In the city seven matches would be held at Aishbagh Hockey Stadium Bhopal. The first match is scheduled

on Friday.

Entry in the stadium has been made free for the audience as the organisers want to popularise the game in the city like Cricket. At present Kabaddi has become the second most watched game in India which is an encouraging trend and would help in uplifting the level of Kabaddi to International levels.

lahore lions the team from Pakistan would arrive in the city on Saturday.

Replying to a query, Raheja said that the venue for the finals was lahore and if the political scenario remains favorable it would be held in lahore but at the moment the venue has been shifted.

This form of Kabaddi is popular in Canada and England but its origin is India and such competitions in more entertaining form would help in popularising the game.

Providing details, Raheja told special mat has been used to protect the players from grave injuries. Guidelines of World Anti Doping Agency have been strictly implemented and those found guilty would be removed from the team immediately.

Former Captain of Indian hockey team Pargat Singh has been assigned as the commissioner of the WKl and would be strictly monitoring the doping and other issues during the competition.  WKl is affiliated with 14 International Federations across the world.