The WAKO India National Senior & Masters Kickboxing Championship-2021 is scheduled to start from 26 to 29 August 2021 at Multipurpose Indoor Hall, Dayanand Bandodkar Krida Sankool, Peddem.
However, Mapusa's councillor Shashank Narvekar has expressed strong opposition to the event citing the Covid-19 pandemic.
Narvekar feels as participants under the age of 19 aren’t permitted to get the Covid-19 vaccine and had requested the Deputy Collector to deny permission for the tournament. He said, "I had met the Deputy Collector on August 16 and requested him not to allow the competition. After that, I had submitted statements to the Collector, Deputy Collector, Director General of Police, Mapusa Police Station, etc. in this regard and demanded that the competition should not be allowed.
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"District Collector Ajit Roy, however, has given permission to organizer Sagar Ramesh Surve to go ahead with the competition. All this has happened against the rules issued by the government itself regarding Covid,” he added.
Narvekar also spoke about how important people like the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, MLA haven’t responded. He also stressed the fact that the organizers are often seen roaming around the tournament venue without masks, risking Covid related problems.
“When you contact Pramod Sawant, Deputy Chief Minister Manohar (Babu) Ajgaonkar and District Collector, they did not respond. Also, Mapusa MLA Joshua D'Souza put his hand over his ear in this matter, Currently, the competition organizers are walking around the venue without wearing face masks and we have proof of that," he said.
Compliance with Covid regulations: Organizer
The National Kick Boxing Championship Organizing Committee has denied the allegations about violating the Covid-19 guidelines. The organizing committee held a press conference in Panaji on Wednesday.
"All the safety and social distancing measures will be followed strictly, as WAKO India has released an advisory to all the participating teams, coaches, referees, managers and officials," said Siddhesh Naik, Head of organizing committee.
The tournament will include divisions of fighting (Tatami & Ring events) and musical forms (weapons & bare hand). The Tatami include events like Point Fight, Light Contact & Kick Light and the Ring events- Full Contact, Low Kick and K-1. Whereas the Musical and creative forms demonstrate the combination of speed, coordination, balance and synchronicity.
This is a key step event leading up to the Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games which will be held in March 2022 in Bangkok-Thailand, as best kickboxers from here will be selected for the Indian team.