Mumbai: Mashal Sports plans to commence the eighth season of vivo Pro Kabaddi League in December 2021.

The company has announced that the player auction for the latest season will take place between 29 and 31 August. The three-day auction process in Mumbai will be telecast on the Star Sports Network.

This player auction will see domestic, overseas, and new young players (NYPs) divided into four Categories: Category A, B, C and D. Within each category, the players will be further subdivided as ‘All-Rounders’, ‘Defenders’ and ‘Raiders’. Base prices for each of the categories are Category A – Rs 30 Lakh, Category B – Rs 20 Lakh, Category C –Rs 10 lakh, Category D – Rs 6 lakh.

The total salary purse applicable to each franchisee for its squad for season eight is Rs 4.4 crore. The player pool has been expanded to 500+ athletes including all squad players from PKL season six and seven, as well as all players who have represented the top eight ranked teams of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India’s (AKFI) senior men’s national Kabaddi championships of 2020 and 2021 amongst others.

Before going into the auction, the PKL teams are also expected to exercise their choice of retention of PKL season seven squads as per the league policies. For each PKL season, teams are allowed to retain up to six players under the elite retained players category and up to six NYPs under stipulated conditions. Of the 500+ players from the player pool, players who are not retained by the franchisees will go under the hammer which will be broadcast live.

“PKL season eight, will be conducted as per strict government rules and safety protocols with the support and cooperation of all our stakeholders and associates in the national kabaddi ecosystem under the AKFI”, said Mashaal Sports, chief executive officer and PKL, league commissioner, Anupam Goswami.