Hockey India League returns after seven years, announces men’s and women’s franchises for 2024-25 season

New Delhi: In a first-rate boost to Indian hockey, the Hockey India League (HIL) is set to make a historic comeback after a 7-year hiatus, with the 2024-25 edition bringing an exhilarating new era to the game. Officially announced as of late, the HIL 2024-25 will feature eight men’s teams and 6 ladies’s teams, marking the first time a standalone ladies’s league will run similtaneously with the boys’s competition. This monumental expansion is a testament to Hockey India’s commitment to fostering both female and male talent within the game, elevating the status of Indian hockey on a global scale.

The return of the Hockey India League is now not handiest a significant moment within the history of the game but additionally a first-rate step forward in promoting ladies’s hockey. The introduction of an exclusive ladies’s league within the HIL framework provides a powerful platform for female athletes to demonstrate their prowess, paving the style for a more inclusive and competitive future for Indian hockey.

Adding to the buzz, the press event also revealed the boys’s and girls’s franchises which will compete around the globe this edition of the league.

List of Men’s Franchises and their Owners

1.    Chennai – Charles Group
2.    Lucknow – Yadu Sports
three.    Punjab – JSW Sports
four.    West Bengal – Shrachi Sports
5.    Delhi – SG Sports and Entertainment
6.    Odisha – Vedanta Limited
7.    Hyderabad – Resolute Sports
eight.    Ranchi – Navoyam Sports Ventures Deepest Limited

List of Women folk’s Franchises and their Owners

1.    Haryana – JSW Sports
2.    West Bengal – Shrachi Sports
three.    Delhi – SG Sports and Entertainment
four.    Odisha – Navoyam Sports Ventures Deepest Limited

Two of the ladies’s franchises will likely be announced presently after the closure of legal proceedings within the coming days.

Notably, the players’ auction for the HIL 2024-25 will likely be held from thirteenth to fifteenth October in New Delhi. Each franchise will build a 24-player squad, consisting of as a minimum 16 Indian players (with a compulsory inclusion of 4 junior players) and eight international stars. This balanced approach is designed to nurture local talent while adding international flair to to the competition.

The HIL 2024-25 will see its matches played across two venues — Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi, Jharkhand and Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, Odisha — with the ladies’s league final scheduled for Twenty sixth January 2025 in Ranchi and the boys’s final to be held on 1st February 2025 in Rourkela. Each match will lead to a winner, with shootouts being introduced for tied games to verify that every stumble upon concludes decisively.