MMA in India
MMA in India
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (India) have not recognized Mixed Martial Arts as a sport in India. Before 2016 all MMA fights were sanctioned by another MMA association originally registered as Kickboxing association and registered under Maharastra state assocation. Since last few years there had been allegations from MMA fighters about lack of insurance, medical facilities and pocketing financial benefits by the said oldest association. This led to formation of All India MMA Federation registered under Central Government of India and established as Non Profit federation for MMA sport. In 2016, AIMMAF fighters were invited by His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, 5th Successor to Crown for Bahrain. AIMMAF fighters showcased exceptional sporting spirit and recieved many accolades by Bahrain ministers and royal family. In 2017 Brave Combat Federation made its first debut in Mumbai, India. AIMMAF sanctioned the event under the supervision of Marc Goddard and Scott Manhardt. This was also the first time AIMMAF got written recognition by Ministry of External Affairs of India as well as Sports Authority of India and National Boxing Association of India making AIMMAF the current sole authority to be recognised by government body.
Lot of people have asked questions on why AIMMAF was formed and we have tried our best to answer below :
Introduction
India has a tradition that is interconnected with the growth and formulation of various forms of martial arts. In 2012, Mixed Martial Arts, that was growing in publicity after the formation of Ultimate Fighting Championship was introduced to India. This not only united martial artists from various disciplines but also ushered them opportunities to showcase their potential on a global platform.
The nation that was the birthplace of various genres of martial arts witnessed something that was not experienced before. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) was introduced as a foreign concept instead of reintroducing the origins that defined MMA. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Despite the initial disconnect, people and athletes embraced the sport. But the past 4 years was a struggle , that proved to be the exact opposite of what that was initially planned.
Legal Validity
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (India) have not recognized Mixed Martial Arts as a sport in India. Hence conducting Mixed Martial Arts events are not covered as a sport but as events. Other MMA association which is registered under Indian Societies Registration Act was a member of International Mixed Martial Arts Federation and was holding self-sanctioned Mixed Martial Arts events in India. Most of the association holds no responsibility over the event, remuneration of the fighters, safety of the fighters and legal status of the fights. The said association remains to be a closed community where every board member has one or two of their family members placed in suitable roles. Most of the members do not have prior experience in Mixed Martial Arts but owns a small fitness gym or a dojo. Approvals are taken from authorities by showcasing MMA event as fight demonstration event rather than actual fight event and inturn fooling the authorities.
Women’s commission
Fighters and trainers with a Mixed Martial Arts background are not entertained to be a part of the decision making body. For instance the Women’s Development Board in other association is nothing but a board consisting of wives and daughters of the chief delegates. They have zero knowledge about MMA and they are just put in as poster pics to show Women’s development activity.
The Plight of the Fighters
The fighters were on the receiving end of the decline of MMA in India. The only association that organized events in India banned any athlete who questioned any of the decisions or demanded due payment or post-fight medical services. The fighters were not provided training, medical access, insurance or conveyance. Moreover upto 70 percentage of the prize money earned by the fighters were taxed by the association (leaving 30% to fighters). For most of the professional bouts fighters were paid mere Rs. 15000-20000 while the actual purse money for each fighter was setup to be more than 1 lac each. Since the fighter purse money is not announced the fighters never questioned the payment as they had no other MMA event to participate in India. There were numerous occasions were promoter had paid money to President of the association for fighter prize money but then they were never handed over to fighters. Most importantly, the contracts with the fighters were in hands of the commissioner of of said association and athletes did not have access to even possess a copy of the contract they were signed on to. When asked for contract copy, the said association commissioner would ask the fighter to get released without sharing the copy of the contract. Large number of fighters had to leave the organization mid way, as they weren’t getting paid. This eventually became the sole reason for many fighters to come together to establish a federation on behalf of the fighters for fighters which in the end got the recognition of The Prince of Bahrain, His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad (KHK MMA).
Injuries and disputes
Some of the most gripping injuries that occurred during the event was brushed under the carpet. Lack of media coverage had worked in favor of the organization. This includes one of the most promising Mixed Martial Artists – Mohd. Farhad who suffered an elbow injury and was still asked to fight. He was neither assisted with any medical assistance nor he was paid for the medical expenses. There is no medical insurance coverage for any pro fighter and fighters are left alone for all the medical expenses even though they pay Rs. 5000 per year as fighter license fee. During last years BodyPower MMA event, amateur fighter Harry Rammie suffered a knockout kick and had severe concussion. He fell unconscious, there were no stretchers or bed for him inside the venue. He was asked to lie down on a small table. The doctor was not available and he was assisted by Nurse who had no knowledge about sports injuries. Harry was given okay to go home by medical staff and the same evening Harry complained about dizziness, he personally paid for MRI and other diagnostics. Luckily he did not sustain any major injuries. Most of the amateur fighters had suffered broken elbow etc forcing them to out of practice because of poor or late referee stoppage and lack of first aid care. There are numerous others who suffered concussions and were asked to go home without proper medical care. They infact promote fighters to fight even though they are injured if they are willing to pay registration fees.
World championship & Fighter Selection
Last year, tryouts were organized for selection of Team India for IMMAF Amateur World championship. The said association toured many cities and collected Rs. 5000 as fighter entrance fee from all the amateur fighters. Later an additional amount of Rs. 2000 was collected from each selected finalist fighter to compete in BodyPower Open Amateur competition which was termed as final selection criteria for team selection. The winners of the tryouts were asked to pay Rs. 2.5 lacs each for airfare, accommodation and fighter fee to compete in Las Vegas. It was also brought to our notice that Sony agreed and paid them sponsorship amount to cover airfare and expenses for all athletes. Even after the sponsorship atheletes were asked to pay for competing in competition. None of the winner from the competition competed in tryouts and eventually they managed to get some novice fighters who had financial backing to compete in world championship representing India on their own. It is a little surprise that none of the fighters advanced from first round of the competition leaving aside winning any medal. Few year back, They asked all fighters to arrange for Rs. 2.5 lacs in order for them to participate in IMMAF world championship. They have asked fighters to deposit non refundable payment of Rs. 50k to his personal account. This has caused major distress to skilled fighters who are from poor background and without any sponsorship. The recent Singapore Asian championship in June was also filled with multiple allegations from fighters for asking a huge sum of money for competing in the event even though the cost of traveling and lodging in Singapore is much cheaper when compared online. In the year for IMMAF World Championship 2017 this association has asked for Rs. 1.3 Lac (USD 2000) from athletes to enable them to compete in the organization. When contacted IMMAF they stated that their fee is only USD 850 per athelete with boarding and lodging provided. Year after year this association and the members were misusing athletes money to fund their personal agenda.
Fighter Insurance and Medical Screening
Medical screening during BodyPower Open MMA championship organized by the said association was literally a joke. All fighters were cleared without going through any kind of screening and just by asking few questions. Currently none of the fighters are covered under any kind of Insurance. This said association had turned blind eyes to promoters who had not taken insurance coverage for the fighters and given them sanction to conduct the fight. This is against the core values of protecting fighter’s interest on which the association was formed. Today on payment of additional sanction fee any promoter can get away with insurance formalities and putting fighters health and safety on risk.
This said association broke into two different association. The defector from the association went to form another association which eventually got recognized by IMMAF. The president of the new association has been charged with criminal conspiracy and he has been accused of fraudulent activities while he was associated with Karate Federation. He is currently being investigated by Central Beaureu of Investigation (CBI) for faking documents and certificates. Sources have confirmed that he has been involved in Rs. 5.4 million scam and there was a major enquiry setup on him. On the other hand, there had been few improvement from the old association where they themselves founded a Global organization of MMA and they themselves recognized their association. The founders have moved to US and much of the sanctioning is limited to select few shows.