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MUMBAI: In a move that is not surprising Hockey India plans
to launch a franchise based league in January 2013. The FIH
hockey's governing body has given the event a window.
This
is the second hockey league following the inaugural edition
of Nimbus Sport's and IHF's World Series Hockey (WSH) which
was held earlier this year.
The
tournament will have six franchises.12 cities have been shortlisted.
The players will be bought by the franchises in an IPL style
auction in September.
Hockey
India secretary general Narinder Batra has said that the FIH
has given clearance for one month next year during which no
international event will be held. "This has been done
so that top players like Jamie Dwyer, Teun de Nooijer are
free from any international engagements." He also says
that interest has been expressed by groups in owning a team.
Each
franchise will have a budget of Rs.30 million to form a 24-
member squad, comprising 10 overseas and 14 domestic players
who will be bought in the earlier mentioned auction.
The
question is whether the sport can support two leagues. This
move is very much reminiscent of the BCCI launching the IPL
in 2008 to counter Zee's ICL.
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