CHENNAI : Chennai’s volleyball fans are in store for some exciting action. It is looking like the city will play host to one of the two legs of the upcoming Pro Volleyball League.The league, which is being organised by Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) and Baseline Ventures, will have Sony Pictures Network as its television partner.Initial plans called for the league to be held in Kochi and Jaipur, but those have since changed. “We are now looking at hosting the league across Kochi and Chennai,” said the league’s CEO Joy Bhattacharjya.
“They are the two hotbeds of Indian volleyball. So we wanted to take our league there.” Bhattacharjya though said that plans were yet to be finalised. This will be the second time that the city will play host to a volleyball league after the Indian Volley League, for which Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium was one of the venues. The development means that quite a few players from the current national squad who are from Chennai will get to play on their home turf.
Bhattacharjya also confirmed plans to push the league — which was initially scheduled for the end of this year — to next February. “We felt that was the ideal window for us,” he said. “Our plans were affected by the scheduling of Pro Kabaddi League. We did not want to compete with them in our very first season. The window was also appealing to our broadcast partners Sony.”As of now, the league will see 18 matches across the two cities, all of which will be telecast by Sony after a multi-year deal was signed on Thursday. Player auctions will be held towards the end of the year, from a pool of around 90 Indians.
Foreign players will then be slotted to the teams via a draft process.
The bid process for owning teams had begun back in May. The league also received a shot in the arm a couple of months ago when FIVB — the body that governs the sport across the world — put its weight behind it, promising VFI to facilitate the participation of top international players.“Pro Volleyball League will truly redefine the sport of volleyball in the country. With a broadcaster like Sony on board, we are confident that volleyball will soon become one of the most followed sports in India,” said VFI secretary Ramavtar Singh Jakhar.
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