Kho Kho league to be held in Sept-Oct

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 2

Get Set Kho! The Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI) announced its plans to hold the Ultimate Kho Kho League sometime in September-October this year.

The eight-team league will be played on a double round-robin format and will be staged in two cities. The dates for the 21-day tournament and for the players’ auction will be announced later.

“The players’ kits will be fitted with sensors to show a touch and there are several innovations that will show the sport in a new avatar. The spectators will be thoroughly entertained,” KKFI president Sudhanshu Mittal said.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary general Rajeev Mehta has been made the chairman of the league, while Tenzing Niyogi, who was a former sports advisory leader at Ernst and Young, has been announced as the CEO of the league.

“To start off, it will be held in two cities and there are few choices. Kho Kho has huge presence in both the west and south (of India) as also in Jharkhand. We will announce the venues in due time,” Niyogi said.

The league is backed by vice-chairman of Dabur Amit Burman. “We will be sending out the bid documents soon and once decided we will be announcing the eight franchise owners soon,” he said.

KKFI did not announce the name of the broadcaster. “We are in touch with two stations for live coverage and we will prefer to hold the matches in the late evenings. We will announce the broadcaster name shortly,” Niyogi added.

Kho Kho in Asiad

The IOA secretary general announced that Kho Kho would be held as a demonstration sport in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. “The Olympic Council of Asia has given recognition and it will be played as a demonstration sport in the next Asian Games. Hopefully we will win two additional gold medals from this sport in the coming future,” Mehta said.