Professional wrestling league set for November debut

New Delhi: The much-anticipated Indian Wrestling League (IWL) is likely to debut in November this year with organisers set to announce six city-based franchises for the three-week long professional league later this month.

"The IWL will be held in mid-November. We have corporate houses and sponsors on board and a formal announcement about the league would be made soon," said IWL commissioner and chairman G S Mander.

"November suits us as the World Championships are over and all big players would be available. We can hold our national championships before that."

IWL, a tournament on the lines of cricket's Indian Premier League (IPL), was announced after impressive showing by Indian grapplers at the 2012 Olympics and was initially scheduled for January-February, 2013 but was later postponed to November.

With rising profile of Indian wrestlers at the international arena, the organisers wanted to hold the event on a bigger magnitude and with greater prize money.

The organisers have now partnered with Sporty Solutionz, who had successfully organised the Indian Badminton League (IBL) last year, to launch this venture.

"Our earlier promoter wasn't very experienced. Our aim is to organise a great sporting spectacle and Sporty Solutionz has the experience behind them to do that. Prize money for the tournament will be Rs 25 crore and wrestlers will also get handsome match fees," the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief said.

"We were looking for a partner who could market the game well and bring in glamour and entertainment quotient," Mander said.

While franchises from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra and Delhi looks certain for the inaugural competition, the final team could be from Jharkhand or West Bengal.

In a year packed with international competitions like Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, the organisers are hoping that India's good show at the quadrennial events would give IWL a massive boost.

"The performance of our wrestlers in CWG and Asia Games would greatly impact the league. A stupendous performance would create a buzz in favour of IWL," Mander said.