Ultimate Kho Kho: The Kho-Kho Federation of India (KKFI) on Tuesday launched an ambitious franchise-based league for the sport named Ultimate Kho-Kho.
Ultimate Kho-Kho League will be 21-day IPL-style league in which eight franchise teams playing a total of 60 matches in a double round-robin format. KKFI (The Kho-Kho Federation of India) tie-up with the Dabur India Ltd for this.
There will be an initial draft of players where athletes from across the world, including England, South Korea, Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, will be part of the eight franchise.
The teams will also have the opportunity to include U-18 players in their squads with the aim of developing a pool of young players.
Other details regarding team formation and auction of players will be announced soon.
“Indigenous sports are the manifestation of the local genius and ethos. Surely, this league will go a long way in enhancing the popularity of this very Indian sport and open new vista for the players and the fans,” said sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore, who joined the event via video chat.
KKFI and Dabur have together appointed Tenzing Niyogi (former sports advisory leader at Ernst and Young) as the CEO of the league.
Kho-Kho is one of the most traditional sports in India. This tournaments will surely grasp the viewership and have potential to come on Top 3 private sports league in India.
Kho-Kho is played in around 20 countries in the world, mostly in Asia. A Kho-Kho match consists of four innings of nine minutes each and will be played on specially developed mats in state-of-the-art indoor stadiums.
Each team has 12 players, out of which nine will sit on their knees on the field, while three will be extra
