66th Senior National Kabaddi Championship: No live telecast on TV, Siddharth Desai to miss the tournament
The 66th Senior National Kabaddi Championship is set to commence on 28th January 2019 and will wrap up on 31st January 2019 in Roha (Raigad district) in Maharashtra. It is being organized by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) and Maharashtra Kabaddi Association.
However, as per the latest revelation, the 66th Senior National Kabaddi Championship won't be broadcasted on the Star Sports Network and Hotstar. There is a possibility that the matches might get streamed on specific channels on YouTube which is not confirmed yet. The results of the 66th Senior Nationals, however, will get posted on Kabaddi360 Instagram page.
The reason behind no live telecast of 66th Senior Nationals is because the tournament is getting conducted in an open venue where Star Sports has difficulty in running their broadcasting system. The digital setup which Star Network uses to broadcast major Kabaddi tournaments cannot be used in the open venue.
The knockout matches of 65th Senior Nationals, held in Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, got televised on Star Sports Network and Hotstar.
Also checkout : 67th Senior National Kabaddi Championship 2020 Schedule
Siddharth Desai: Railways or Maharashtra?
Recently, the star debutant from U Mumba in Season 6, Siddharth Desai got selected in the 12-member men's squad for Maharashtra in the 66th Senior National Kabaddi Championship. However, he was a part of the Railways' team as he represented South Central Railways team and won the Inter Railways Kabaddi Championship for his team.
He trained at the Maharashtra training camp for the upcoming tournament after taking a resignation from Railways to represent his state, Maharashtra. However, Railways opted not to accept his resignation as the board didn't issue Non-Objection Certificate (NOC) for Siddharth Desai.
Eventually, Maharashtra board couldn't allow Siddharth Desai to play for their team unless Railways published a NOC letter for him which led to a dilemma for Siddharth's participation in the tournament.
So the conclusion after such indecision stands that Siddharth Desai will not be participating in the 66th Senior National Kabaddi Championship which has turned into a major disappointment for Maharashtra as well as the ardent fans of Siddharth Desai.