Indo International Premier Kabaddi League' is set to have eight teams with 62 matches

An unrecognized kabaddi body, called the New Kabaddi Federation of India (NKFI), has decided to launch a new league featuring Indian and international players.

The 'Indo International Premier Kabaddi League' is set to have eight teams with 62 matches spread over one-and-a-half months, a media release said today. Each team is to have 3-4 foreign players from countries across the world.

The league is planning to attract players from New Zealand, Poland, Argentina, Tanzania, Australia, Norway, the United Kingdom, Canada, the USA, Afghanistan, Iran, Mexico, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Kenya, Iraq, Denmark, the release said. Giving additional details Jaya Shetty, Chief Advisor of NKFI, said the league is expected to take place in December. "The NKFI was established and former Kabaddi player M V Prasad Babu, who played for India, took lead in establishing it," Shetty told PTI.

According to Shetty, talks were going on to have the league for the past six months and then a memorandum of the understanding was inked with DSPORT, the channel which will telecast the matches. "There will be four venues and we are considering to host it away from the main cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru. The other details about franchises, players will be shared at a later stage" said Shetty.

Asked whether it was a private league, Shetty replied in the affirmative. The release said that players like S Rajarathinam, a two-time gold medallist in the Asian Games, Suresh Kumar, Madhukar Yadav and C Honnappa have extended their support to the league. Sarvesh Kumar, President, NKFI, said, "With the launch of this league, we expect kabaddi to gain more encouragement as a sport in India."

Former kabaddi player and general secretary of NKFI, M V Prasad Babu, said, "This will be the first league featuring the best of Indian and international players." There's already the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) with the support of the government-recognized Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India and International Kabaddi Federation.

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