Pro Kabaddi League auction on May 31 and June 1
This auction includes an updated Final Bid Match (FBM) rule, and features a star-studded player pool with over 500 athletes available for bidding
HYDERABAD: The highly anticipated Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 12 Player Auction is set to take place on May 31 and June 1 in Mumbai with top Indian and international kabaddi stars going under the hammer and teams eager to build their strongest squads, the event promises to be nothing short of a blockbuster.
This auction includes an updated Final Bid Match (FBM) rule, and features a star-studded player pool with over 500 athletes available for bidding. Among them are elite Indian players like Pawan Sehrawat, Arjun Deshwal, Ashu Malik, and Devank Dalal (PKL 11’s top raider), along with international powerhouses Fazel Atrachali and Mohammadreza Shadloui.
Legendary names such as Maninder Singh and Pardeep Narwal also return to the auction table, while Naveen Kumar enters the PKL Player Auction for the first time after six seasons with Dabang Delhi KC.
For the first time in league history, every single champion player from Seasons 1 to 11 is in the auction pool and available for teams to bid on. The full list of past champion players now up for grabs: Maninder Singh, Fazel Atrachi, Pardeep Narwal, Pawan Sehrawat, Maninder Singh, Naveen Kumar, Arjun Deshwal and Mohammadreza Shadloui. One of the most significant updates for Season 12 is the revised Final Bid Match (FBM) rule.
Previously, the FBM rule allowed teams to retain a player for only one season. Now, franchises have the option to retain a player for either one or two seasons at the time of exercising their FBM. This change supports longer term squad building and greater team continuity.
When a player who was part of a team in Season 11 receives the highest bid from another franchise, the auctioneer will ask the player’s previous team if they’d like to exercise their FBM. If they choose to do so, they must immediately raise either the one-season or two-season FBM card — whichever card is raised first will be considered final. If the team exercises the FBM, the player is awarded to them at the final bid price. If they do not, the player goes to the highest bidder.
The number of FBM cards a team can use is linked to the number of Elite Retained Players (ERPs): 6 ERPs retained → 1 FBM; 5 ERPs retained → 2 FBMs; 4 or fewer ERPs retained → 3 FBMs. For this year’s Player Auction, all teams can use up to 3 FBMs, except UP Yoddhas, who are eligible for 2 FBMs.
A total of 83 players have been retained by the 12 PKL franchises ahead of the Player Auction: 25 in the Elite Retained Players (ERP) category; 23 in the Retained Young Players (RYP) category; 35 in the New Young Players (NYP) category. This leaves a maximum of 217 slots to be filled during the Player Auction.
Each team can have a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 25 players in their squad. Each franchise starts with a salary purse of ₹5 crores, adjusted for any players already retained.
