LAHORE: Pakistan have been debarred from the upcoming 12-nation Kabaddi World Cup in India amid escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Iran will take on newcomers the United States in Friday’s (tomorrow) opening round of the tournament, which will also feature Australia, South Korea, England, Poland, Kenya and Argentina. With the World Cup last staged nine years ago, teams are relishing the chance to compete in the two-week event being held in India’s western city of Ahmedabad. But the traditional South Asian sport that mixes tag and wrestling and is growing in popularity has been hit with controversy over a decision to exclude highly fancied Pakistan. Confirming the news, International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) chief Deoraj Chaturvedi said Wednesday that Pakistan had been denied entry in the upcoming tournament because it was not the right time to engage with them. “Pakistan is a valuable member of the IKF but looking at the current scenario and in the best interest of both the nations, we decided that Pakistan must be refrained from the championship,” Chaturvedi was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, Pakistan has accused the IKF of unfairly targeting their country, while insisting that both rival nations should have been excluded if there were security concerns. Comparing his country’s exclusion with that of Football World Cup without Brazil, Pakistan Kabaddi Federation secretary general Rana Muhammad Sarwar said that “a Kabaddi World Cup is no World Cup without Pakistan.” Pakistan captain Nasir Ali said his players had been favourites to clinch the cup after defeating India at the six-nation Kabaddi Cup held in Pakistan in May and last month’s Asian Beach Games in Vietnam. “We were hoping to win the world cup in India by beating India,” Ali said, adding that fans were being denied matches between the top two sides. Hostilities between the nations have flared after India said last week it conducted military strikes inside Pakistan against militants, sparking fury from Islamabad. The strikes came after gunmen staged the deadliest attack on an Indian army base in more than a decade, which an enraged New Delhi blamed on Pakistani-based militants. New lease of life: The World Cup comes as the ancient game, played in sandy parks across India for generations and once tagged with a dowdy image, is enjoying a new lease of life. The Pro Kabaddi League, launched in India in 2014 with live television coverage, corporate sponsors and brightly coloured lyrca strips, has proved hugely popular and drawn players from Iran and South Korea. Kabaddi requires yoga-like breathing skills as two seven-member teams send a raider into their enemy’s half of the court to tag an opponent before returning — in just one breath. Attackers chant “kabaddi, kabaddi” to prove they are not inhaling. The game is played in around 35 countries, but it is dominated by India, where it originated. Iran, who lost to India in the previous two World Cup finals in 2007 and 2004, have a relatively easy first match against first-timers USA. An opening-day double header will also see India lock horns with South Korea. A round-robin tournament, the top two sides from the pools will qualify for the semis, with the final on October 22.