Guwahati, Sept. 27: The Assam Sports Association will go ahead with the 37th National Arm Sports Championship despite a reported Calcutta court verdict barring the organisers from holding the meet.

Nearly 300 players and officials from 20 states are in the city for the national meet to be held at the Deshabhakta Tarun Ram Phookan Indoor Stadium here.

The championship is being organised under the aegis of Assam Sports Association along with Assam Arm Sports Association.

The tournament started late this evening after being delayed by certain organising constraints.

Reacting to the reported verdict as well as the Assam Armwrestling Association’s (AAA) claims, which disclosed the verdict late last evening, AASA president Kailash Sarma denied having received any communication from any court regarding the matter.

The court has reportedly barred all other organisations, except Indian Armwrestling Federation, from organising a national event.

“We have not received any kind of court communication till now. Since we are not affiliated to the Indian Armwrestling Federation or any of its subsidiaries, we have nothing to do with the court verdict. We are definitely proceeding with the championship as scheduled,” Sarma said.

“Some vested interests are up in arms to sabotage the tournament, but we are not going to budge,” Sarma added.

AASA secretary Bibekananda Hazarika, echoing Sarma, said: “They have accused us of using their logo while ours is a completely different one. We have not received the copy of the verdict nor do we have any clue regarding the matter. We are affiliated to the Indian Arm Sports Association and not to the Indian Armwrestling Federation.”

Amid the turmoil, Pradeep Plaha, a player from Punjab, expressed his anguish regarding the factional disputes among organisers, which hamper the players.

“How can someone call a national-level championship illegal? We are here for the sport and not for gambling. So many players from around the country have come here to participate but these factional disputes between the associations hamper us,” said Plaha.