What Pakistan kabaddi star Ubaidullah Rajput said after 'treason', 'traitor' backlash over 'representing India' in Bahrain

Pakistan international Ubaidullah Rajput finds himself in a difficult spot after he ended up representing ‘an Indian team’ in a private tournament in Bahrain on 16 December. Ubaidullah was targeted reportedly after videos and pictures showing him donning an India-like jersey and waving the Indian flag during the GCC Cup 2025 went viral.

The Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF), under secretary Rana Sarwar, is soon to call an emergency meeting, scheduled for 27 December, to discuss the incident. During this meeting, a decision will be taken regarding disciplinary action against Rajput and several other players. He reportedly said that 16 Pakistani players had gone to Bahrain in their personal capacity without taking any permission from the federation or the Pakistan Sports Board.

Gulf Air Club in Bahrain’s Salmabad hosted the GCC Cup, which was the third edition of the tournament as per information available online. However, teams formed under the names of India, Pakistan, Canada, Iran etc. and the Rajput ended up with the Indian team. 

Ubaidullah Rajput’s explanation

Meanwhile, Pakistani media reported that a cornered Ubaidullah issued a public apology via social media. He maintains that he said yes to the GCC Cup under the impression that it was a tournament like any other. Seldom did he know that the "private team" he was "invited" to represent was labelled ‘India’, Dawn quoted the player as saying.

The Bahrain tournament was a "local" annual event and not an official India-Pakistan contest. He confessed that it was only when he heard the kind of cheering and nationalistic sloganeering from the spectators that he realised the game had another outlook altogether, Dawn quoted him as saying.

In the video that he released online, Ubaidullah claimed that he went to the commentator's box to further confirm that the match was a club-level event. He would not have participated had he known it would be projected as an India-Pakistan fixture. He further appealed to the Pakistani public not to brand him a traitor, reiterating his apology to the federation and to his countrymen in general if their sentiments were hurt.

"...I didn't know until later they had named the side 'Indian team', and I told the organisers not to use the names of India and Pakistan."

"I was not under that impression until I found out later that I was misrepresented as playing for the Indian team, which I can't think of doing after the conflict... In private competitions in the past, Indian and Pakistani players have played together for a private team, but never under the names of India or Pakistan," news agency PTI quoted him as saying.