The IVL, announced by the Volleyball Federation of India along the lines of the Indian Premier League, is to host its opening leg in Bangalore from May 29 to June 2. But the Karnataka Volleyball Association’s attempts to get the stadium for the event have fallen flat, with the facility being reserved for Procam International — the organisers of the annual Sunfeast 10K run — who host an expo during the event.
VFI Joint Secretary K Nandakumar, also the KVA secretary, lashed out at State sports officials for denying KVA permission to conduct matches at the venue.
“I moved my file to host the IVL at the Sree Kanteerava stadium to the Sports Authority of Karnataka and the Stadium Managing Commitee on March 16 and Procam has filed the same on March 30,” said Nandakumar. “So I basically booked it ahead of them. That apart, we are the State association and as per SAK rule, we should have priority in utilising the stadium.”
“The file was then moved around and finally landed up at the Department of Youth Services and Sports. I do not see why this file should go to the government.
“There is an illegal deal going on here but I don’t want all that, I just want the stadium to conduct my event,” an agitated Nandakumar, who is also the IVL secretary, added.
Six-team event
The IVL, after starting off with the Bangalore leg, will move to Chennai (June 4 to June 8), Yanam, Puducherry (June 12 to June 16) and Hyderabad (June 20 to June 24). Six teams –– Karnataka Bulls, Chennai Spikers, Kerala Killars, Hyderabad Chargers, Yanam Tigers, Maratha Warriors — are to vie for honours in the first edition of the event. The tournament will be played in a round-robin league basis with each centre hosting 15 matches each and the winner will be adjudged based on the number of points accumalated at the end of the tournament.
When asked if they were considering an alternative venue, Nandakumar said: “Why? Why should we do that? This is our stadium and we will conduct the event here. The VFI has issued a deadline of tomorrow for me to tell them about the venue. If we don’t get it allotted by tomorrow evening, I will either go to Lokayukta or the court or I will stage a protest in front of the SAK office on Thursday.”