PKL 8: Challenges aplenty for organizing Pro Kabaddi 2021 at a single venue

The entire eighth season of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) will be held at the Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel & Convention Centre without spectators. Surprisingly, the venue will also accommodate all 12 teams and act as a residence-plus-stadium for the 2021 PKL.

Mashal Sports, organizers of the league, said it is being done to minimize the risk of COVID-19 and secure the bio-bubble. But pulling off a tournament on this scale does come with its own challenges.

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How is Mashal Sports managing the task of hosting PKL 2021 at a single venue?

Each team will be given some floors for their officials and players. The setup is similar to that of the Tokyo Olympic Games village, where nations including India were given certain floors for their athletes.

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No player or official will be allowed to move outside those floors to keep the bio-secure bubble intact. There will be regular COVID-19 tests and players will have to wear masks when they are not in the training area.

Arvind Yadav, head physiotherapist for the Bengaluru Bulls, told Sportskeeda:

“It is like a mini stadium now. Mashal has made the entire banquet hall into one arena to organise the matches. There will be four training areas which we will share. There is not much difference except we all now will be staying in city for the entire PKL season.”

Mashal Sports has decided not to use GPS-based trackers to monitor players’ movement, something BCCI did during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. A team official, however, feels it is not necessary since there will be no movement outside the venue.

“The entire competition will be held at one venue. During the IPL, the teams had to travel from the hotel to the stadium and back, so they were tracking everything. For us, it is just in that one hotel. I don’t think trackers are really needed,” a team official said on condition of anonymity.

Sportskeeda has learnt that Mashal Sports has booked a separate hotel for broadcasting crews and other officials. Star Sports is the principal broadcast sponsor of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). The conglomerate retained the PKL media rights for INR 180 crores per year, totalling 900 crores for five years.

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What challenges does a single venue bring for PKL?

Organizing a league as big as Pro Kabaddi (PKL) comes with its own challenges. For starters, Mashal Sports will have to accommodate ample numbers of training sessions for 12 teams. While having four practice areas solve the problem to a certain extent, it also increases the risk of leaking out of team tactics for a particular opponent.

“The basement is pretty big, so there will be four training areas. What it does is it will give us all time to train together. But how they will accommodate the timings will be challenging. Also, if we all train at the same venue, there are chances of other teams knowing our strengths and weaknesses,” Arvind said.

The teams are also wondering about what kind of entertainment will be available during their stay.

“Earlier, we would travel to different cities, so it gave us time to enjoy ourselves and kept us fresh. Now, it will be different. We need to see what kind of facilities are there for us to use,” a team official said.

For now, the teams are just focussed on finishing up their final training sessions before they all enter the bio-bubble. Meanwhile, organizers are giving the finishing touches to its preparations to host PKL which is returning after a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19.