Dangal over league rights: PWL organisers send notice to WFI

Vinayak Padmadeo

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 3

The Professional Wrestling League owners, Pro Sportify, have sent a notice to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for “breach of agreement”.

In a letter addressed to WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the rights holders have raised their objection to what they see as a gross oversight by the sports body to sanction the launch of a rival league, Zee Kushti Dangal, which according to Pro Sportify was malicious. “…The launch of the said Zee Kushti Dangal was held on 23rd September 2019 at New Delhi. What is even more surprising is that the launch event was not only attended by you but you also participated in the press conference with Mr. Mukund Caire, the COO of ZEEL. Furthermore, in the press conference, you made a statement that both Pro Wrestling League and Zee Kushti Dangal can coexist. You also stated that Zee Kushti Dangal and Pro Wrestling League have different formats and scope,” the notice sent by the legal head of Pro Sportify, Dinesh Bant, said.

“We have analysed the format of Zee Kushti Dangal and compared it to the Pro Wrestling League; there is no difference between the formats of the two tournaments. As such, it appears that being conscious of the fact that its actions clearly tantamount to breach of the agreement, the WFI has attempted to camouflage this blatant breach by changing the nomenclature of the league being launched by ZEEL. That the Zee Kushti Dangal is the same as the Pro Wrestling League is evident from the fact that Mr. Caire of ZEEL referred to Zee Kushti Dangal as the ‘League’ several times during the press conference. This makes it evidently clear that while the proposed tournament is in the league format, it has only been named ‘Dangal’ to circumvent the exclusivity rights retained by Pro Sportify,” it added.

Pro Sportify Private Limited had signed a 15-year contract with the WFI and it cited clause 9.4 of the commercial rights agreement to cite the violations. WFI president Singh was unavailable for comments. However, it is understood that the body was unperturbed with the development as it feels it was in a strong bargaining position should the matter go to the courts.

Interestingly, the WFI had served the rights holder a termination notice in 2016 for several violations, including non-payment of rights fee, and delayed payments made to both wrestlers and technical staff.