PKL Auction 2024: What is the Final Bid Match (FBM) option in Pro Kabaddi?
The player auction ahead of Season 11 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is taking place on August 15 and 16 in Mumbai.
The 12 PKL teams will be looking to build their squads ahead of the 2024 season. Each of the franchises must have a minimum of 18 players in their squad, with the upper limit being set at 25.
All released players ahead of the auction will not necessarily find new teams this season. Players that have been released can make their way back to their previous teams through the FBM (Final Bid Match) route.
What is the FBM option in the Pro Kabaddi League Auction?
The Final Bid Match option or FBM allows team to match the final bid made for a player released from their ranks during the auction. This option was introduced from Season six of the Pro Kabaddi League.
How does the FBM card work?
At the end of a round of the auction bidding, a team that released a player, who has been roped in by another team, will be invited to match the final bid. The said team can respond with Yes or No.
If Yes, the team that released the player will acquire his services for the final bid price.
If No, the team that bid the highest amount in the bidding process will acquire the player.
How many times can the FBM option be used in PKL Auction?
The Final Bid Match card can only be used thrice by a team during the PKL Auction, but is subject to the number of elite players retained by the teams.
If the team has retained the maximum quota of six players then it will be eligible to use the FBM card only once. However, the card usage increases if the team has retained only five or lesser players.
A team that has retained four or less players will be eligible to use all their FBM cards.
For the 2024 auction, all twelve teams are eligible to use their FBM cards.