New Delhi: Even after a successful inaugural season, the second edition of the Pro Volleyball League (PVL) seems to be in jeopardy. The first season of the PVL, scheduled in February 2019, turned out to be a huge success as it got a great response from both fans and players.
However, for the second PVL season, the dates have yet not been finalised, leaving the organisers in a fix.
Baseline Ventures, who are one of the organisers of the league, have been asking since March 2019, the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) to finalise the dates for the second season of the league.
However, the VFI hasn't yet responded to the request of the Baseline.
According to the documents accessed by IANS, Baseline CEO Joy Bhattacharjya, had on March 11, written an email to VFI Secretary General Ramavtar Singh Jhakar in which he said that Sony Pictures, who are broadcasters of the league, are looking for tentative dates for PVL Season 2 to be held between October 15 and December 15.
Baseline didn't receive any response to their request and then the matter was taken to the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the world governing body for volleyball.
In August, Fabio Azevedo, the general director of FIVB, wrote to VFI wherein they asked for a roadmap for Indian volleyball, including the PVL and demanded a response by September 2.
But, they didn't get a response from VFI within the said date and it was only on September 19 that VFI President Vasudevan S replied wherein he mentioned his inability to reply within the given time-limit due to his "hectic travel schedule". In his response, Vasudevan said that VFI has "already engaged with Baseline and started discussing the way forward and most likely we will conclude the mutually win-win situations shortly".
The VFI President further said that they will present the roadmap within the first week of October. However, no further information was exchanged by them with the FIVB.
On October 1, Tuhin Mishra, Managing Director and Co-founder of Baseline Ventures, wrote to VFI, saying that PVL Season 2 is on the verge of being cancelled as VFI General Secretary has been creating "unnecessary and unwanted hurdles" for them to organize the second edition of the league.
On October 10, Hitesh Mehta, from FIVB Sports Development Department, wrote another email to VFI President demanding an update and mentioned "As President Ary Graça has approved NF-India application for Projects Platform 2019 but we can't move further since we don't have any clarity from your side regarding VFI and Baseline Ventures.
Sony Pictures have given the organisers the final date of February 7, 2020 for organising the second PVL season, but they need to be informed at least around 90-100 days in advance.