PVL expected to give the sport a fillip

The first year will see six teams playing in two cities

Tuhin Mishra.

Things are looking up in Indian volleyball after the Honourable Delhi High Court reportedly ruled in favour of S. Vasudevan as the president of the VFI in the elections held in April 2016 that removes the cloud over factional fights in the governing body.

The proposed Pro Volleyball League, co-owned by VFI and Baseline Ventures India Pvt. Ltd., is falling to place and is expected to take the sport to the next level.

Speaking to

The Hindu on Monday, Baseline Ventures Tuhin Mishra co-owner was happy that everything is falling in place.

Mishra said, “we are confident the league will be successful because we have taken care to keep costs in control and have a roadmap planned.”

Mishra said the winner of the league will get to play in the Asian club championship and then progress to the World club championships which will give the teams something to look forward to.

The league that will start on September 15 will go for 23 days with 18 match days and the first year will see six teams playing in round-robin format before the semifinals and final. The base price for each franchise has been set at ₹3 crore.

“To ensure we keep costs in control, we will play in just two cities, Kochi in the south (first 10) and Jaipur (last eight, including the final) in the north.”

The league also plans to have a ₹75 lakh cap on player fees with a team allowed a maximum of 12 players — 10 Indians and two foreigners. While the Indians will be picked in an auction, there will be a draft system of foreigners.