Representative image.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Indian National Basketball League (INBL) are at loggerheads yet again, but this time, it is going to be a long-drawn legal battle.
The INBL was instituted by the previous regime of the BFI, headed by K Govindaraj, but it was not recognised by the new regime headed by Aadhav Arjuna. The new chapter of BFI has been looking to constitute its own version of national leagues in the country.
In fact, BFI shot out a tender notice for the launch of the ‘National Star Basketball Leagues’ on Wednesday. They were looking to launch 3x3 and 5x5 leagues, and were calling on bids for organising partners for both formats.
In the wake of BFI’s tender, INBL managed to get an interim order from the Karnataka Civil Court which restrains the BFI from opening of the tender bids until the next date of hearing on June 10.
BFI had taken matter to Delhi High Court as early as May 9 and the court directed INBL not to use phrases such as “India”, “Indian Team” and “Select Indian Team” in the context of its exhibition game hosted on May 10.
The game itself was allowed but the court asked INBL to deposit a sum of Rs 5 crore with BFI and were banned from conducting any further matches. It essentially means the INBL, which saw some big names enter the fray, won’t have much of a future and will be reduced to non-match promotional events. The INBL intended to launch its Pro League in August.
Headstart Arena India, a Punjab-based recreational company with business interests in Australia, runs the INBL. They were originally given a five-year license by BFI to promote the competition in India.