New Indian Volleyball League Illegal by Federation
Even before its take-off, the proposed Indian Volleyball League (IVL) has run into rough weather. The league has created a deep divide within the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI). VFI president Chaudhary Avadesh Kumar and secretary Ramavtar Singh Jakhar are on the warpath, accusing each other of “hijacking” the league for their own “vested interest”.
The IVL, which will feature three separate leagues of men’s, women’s and beach volleyball, was announced in the capital on Wednesday with much fanfare by Kumar, in association with Sportzlive, a Delhi-based sports marketing and branding company.
The league, which will be played in three phases — women’s in June-July, men’s in October and beach volleyball in January 2017 — has the approval of the international volleyball federation (FIVB). The six-city franchise-based league will be played in a round-robin format, followed by knockout stages. Each team will have a minimum of four international players, including one international marquee player.
But soon after the announcement, Jakhar accused the VFI president of keeping the federation in the dark with regards to the IVL, and dubbed the proposed league as “unauthorised and illegal”, which doesn’t have the approval of the VFI’s executive committee.
“During the VFI’s executive committee meeting on February 22, it was decided to launch the volleyball league in November-December this year, in association with Baseline Ventures Pvt Ltd, which specialises in sports marketing and entertainment,” Jakhar said.
“But within two days, Kumar announced the league with Sportzlive without taking any of the executive members in confidence, not even the vice-president and treasurer. Any use of the VFI’s name and logo by Sportzlive will be deemed as illegal. This is a step towards hijacking the already-discussed league. This is a complete breach of trust on part of Kumar and we won’t allow the IVL to happen at any cost.”
Jakhar informed that the VFI’s Extraordinary General Body Meeting (EGBM) will be called in Chennai on March 11, where Kumar will be asked to explain his conduct and the urgency shown by him in announcing the league. “If he fails to come up with a satisfactory reply, the executive committee is likely to move a motion to replace him as president. The majority of the members are against him.”
Kumar, however, said that everything was fine within the VFI and that he was confident of resolving the matter amicably. “There is some miscommunication, nothing else. I am not aware of what Jakhar has said on the IVL launch. The league will happen as per the schedule. There are some people who don’t want the IVL to happen,” he said.
The first edition of the league was launched in 2011, but it failed to generate much interest.
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