New Kabaddi Federation of India launches Indo International Premier Kabaddi League

New Delhi, September 19: The New Kabaddi Federation of India (NKFI) on Wednesday launched the Indo International Premier Kabaddi League, beginning on January 26, 2019. With a winner's cheque of Rs 1.25 crore, the league will see over 1,000 players, both domestic and international, competing as part of eight franchises.

There is a pool of 823 Indian players, that includes 271 state level players, 137 national and international level players and 84 foreigners registered with the NKFI. The player draft will take place on January 5, 2019.

Rival federation

The league will feature eight teams in the inaugural edition, namely Bengaluru Rhinos, Chennai Cheetahs, Delhi Dumars, Telangana Bulls, Patna Panthers, Haryana Hurricanes, Mumbai Marathas and Kolkata Tigers. Each franchise will have two to three international players.

The format is one of double round robin - the league stage will consist of 62 matches over a period of one and a half months. The top 4 teams will qualify for the playoffs. The NKFI claims it will pull players from countries like New Zealand, Poland, Argentina,Tanzania, Australia, Norway, United Kingdom, Canada, USA, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Mauritius, Kenya, Iraq and Denmark.

New #kabaddi faction announced international premier kabaddi league from January next. More action and more money for players? pic.twitter.com/410yJRa0kj

— navneet singh (@navneetsport) September 19, 2018

Interestingly, the federation also decided to distribute 20 per cent of the annual profits from the league to the participating players. All 62 games will be streamed on DSPORT, a sports TV channel by Discovery Communications India.

"We are overwhelmed to launch the Indo International Premier Kabaddi League in India. This will be the first league featuring the best of Indian and International players from across the world," general secretary, NKFI, MV Prasad Babu said. "The purpose of the league is to give a fair chance to all players, to encourage competition which will benefit federations and players. We are providing 20 per cent of the profit to players and 50 per cent to the state federation for the development of the game."

The selection trial will start from October 6 and will be held across the country for two months. The league is a big step for The New Kabaddi Federation (NKFI), which was formed in May last year. The body is yet to be recognised by the International Kabaddi Federation, which is under the aegis of Olympic Council of Asia.

At loggerheads with the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI), NKFI had alleged rampant malpractices in the selection process of the Indian teams for Asian Games. After two petitioners -- C Honnappa Gowda and S Rajarathinam -- approached the court, the Delhi high court ordered the AKFI to conduct a selection process on September 15 under the supervision of Justice (retired) S P Garg as an observer. However, there was no clarity of the order and it turned out to be just an exercise to follow a court order.