Kabaddi League to kick-off in May

Federation secretary hopes to attract maximum eyeballs for inaugural event

KARACHI: Following the trend of organising leagues with city teams, the Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) will be launching their own version of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in May.

The kabaddi league was originally planned to take place in March, providing players with different franchises that were to pick them this month. However, according to the PKF secretary Muhammad Sarwar, the league will now take place in May as they are planning to conduct the mega event in Lahore and also make sure that the tournament gets air time on television.

“We had to push it forward and we are confident that it is a better decision,” Sarwar told The Express Tribune. “We can’t compare it to the PSL because cricket is a bigger sport in Pakistan and the government was involved in organising it, but yes we want to have a league too.”

Sarwar hopes the league will attract the attention of youth who want to join the sport. “Our players will benefit from it the most as different franchises will pick them and pay a good amount of money, which can be a great motivation for new players too, as we want the youth to pick up our traditional sport.”

Cashing on the players’ positive experience abroad, PKF decided to collaborate with Strawberry Sports Management to come up with the idea.

The first edition of the league will not be featuring any foreign players but Sarwar said that in the future there will be more opportunities and it is crucial to hold the first edition in a professional manner.

“We decided to wait because we want all the things to go well and set an example for future editions too,” said Sarwar. “We want to hold the league in Lahore, but recently there have been unpleasant incidents as far as the law and order situation is concerned, so we pushed the event forward so that thing can settle down.”

Sarwar said he wants the matches to be telecasted so as to attract maximum attraction. “We want our slot on television too,” he said. “It is the key actor to promote kabaddi as a sport and establish a following in the country.”