NEW DELHI: With the aim to provide commercial viability and a complete makeover to Indian handball, the Premier Handball League, exclusively licensed by Bluesport Entertainment Pvt Ltd under the aegis of Handball Federation of India (HFI), announced Garvit Gujarat as the first franchise team of inaugural edition of the PHL.
The Gujarat-based team will be among the six franchise teams that will be competing in the first season of the league. The team is owned by Garvit Sports Private Limited. GSPL is co-owned by top former handball player turned sports administrator Roopkumar Naidu.
“We are delighted to welcome Garvit Sports Private Limited into the PHL family. We share a similar vision for developing the sport in the country and bolstering the handball ecosystem further with the international exposure and a more professional approach to develop and promote the game. Gujrat has a strong fan base for handball and getting a team from there will attract more support for the sport and help handball to grow in India,” said Abhinav Banthia, director and Investor, Bluesport Entertainment Pvt Ltd, while welcoming Team Garvit Gujarat on board.
Naidu was part of the Indian team in the country’s first-ever international appearance at the Asian Championships in Nanjing, China in 1979, as well as the Asian Games in 1982 and has contributed to Indian handball as a player and later as an administrator.
“Handball is in my DNA. I have played the game at all levels including district, state, national and international, and I am well aware of the demands and needs of the game in the state of Gujarat. As an administrator and while I was posted in Gandhinagar from 2014-2018, I did get the opportunity to develop the infrastructure and promote the game across the state and now I am confident that with a representation in the Premier Handball league, Garvit Gujarat will be able to take the sport to the next level and make it commercially viable and provide national and global exposure to the game as well,” said Naidu.
The inaugural edition of PHL, which is slated to take place next year, is scheduled to launch next year with six franchise teams representing six states of India.
