World Kabaddi League (WKL), the first international kabaddi league, Thursday unveiled Wave Group as the title sponsor and also the eight franchises, who will fighting out for the top honours in the league starting Aug 9.
The announcements were made in the presence of Sukhbir Singh Badal, Punjab deputy chief minister and president of WKL, Pargat Singh, WKL commissioner, and Raman Raheja, chief executive of the league.
The franchise owners Yo Yo Honey Singh, Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha were also present at the occasion. The franchisee owners also showcased their team logos.
“I always wanted to transform the sports landscape and enable the growth of a multi-sport culture in India. Kabaddi is a truly indigenous Indian sport and promotes healthy lifestyle amongst the youth. I wanted to take it to the next level and hence I decided to take this indigenous Indian sport to a global platform through World Kabaddi League," said Badal.
The international-level league, slated to kick off on August 9, will have eight international teams including those owned by Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha and star rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh.
While Kumar has bought Speedy Singhs along with Fastway Sports Development Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Fastway Transmissions, Singh owns Yo Yo Tigers, named after his own name. Both the stars were present on the occasion.
The other teams are Vancouver Lions owned by Gurjit Singh Purewal; Haryana Focus, owned by R and AAR Communication, an off-shoot of Focus Television; Punjab Thunders owned by Thind Properties. It is also co-owned by Bollywood actor Rajat Bedi.
United Singhs, co-owned by Sonakshi Sinha and California Eagles, owned by the Tut Group are the other teams.
The league will see 86 matches to be played in 13 international cities during a four-month long calender.
A prize money of Rs 3.5 Crore has also been announced for the winner team with the salary of each player pegged at Rs 15 crore, higher than that of the Pro Kabaddi Team
