The long-awaited return of Hockey India League was officially confirmed on Friday in Delhi, with Hockey India president Dilip Turkey announcing the franchises and owners for eight men’s and six women’s teams.
While HIL in its previous iteration was only played by men’s teams, this time around a women’s edition will also be played and the number of teams have gone up to six from the originally proposed count of four. The leagues will take place simultaneously, but not in a home-away format, at least in 2024. Ranchi and Rourkela have been identified as the two venues for the upcoming HIL.
The eight men’s teams owners (and corresponding cities) are Charles Group (Chennai), Yadu Sports (Lucknow), JSW Sports (Punjab and Haryana), Shrachi Sports (Kolkata), SG Sports and Entertainment (Delhi), Vedanta Limited (Odisha), Resolute Sports (Hyderabad), Navoyam Sports (Ranchi).
The four confirmed women’s teams owners (and corresponding cities) are JSW Sports (Punjab and Haryana), Shrachi Sports (Kolkata), SG Sports and Entertainment (Delhi), Navoyam Sports (Odisha). Two more franchises will be confirmed soon, before the suction that will take place this month.
Are you excited for this grand comeback of Hockey India League? 🏑
First press conference of the league commencing in the next 1 hour.
Stay tuned for more details on teams joining in us in this journey. #HockeyIndiaLeague #HIL #FirUthegiHockey pic.twitter.com/nTJftLAfHw
— Hockey India League (@HockeyIndiaLeag) October 4, 2024
Tirkey, highlighting the achievements of Indian hockey in recent years, said players from around 15 nations could be in contention to play in the two leagues over a dedicated window for the tournament.
The player auctions will take place on October 13, 14 and 15 in New Delhi, HI’s general secretary Bholanath Singh announced. He also informed that a window between last week of December and first week of February has been blocked for the HIL for at least the next five years in discussion with the international federation FIH.
The last time the league took place was in 2017, which features six teams playing in a home-away format. Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Ranchi and Lucknow were the cities that had teams with Kalinga Lancers clinching the title. The previous version of HIL ran for five editions from 2013 onwards.
