Season 8 of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) has been postponed amid the novel coronavirus spread in the country, the organisers announced on the league website.

"Under the current circumstances and keeping in mind the official guidelines and health and safety of players in the context of an indoor contact sport, we regret the postponement of Season 8 of PKL," read an announcement on the PKL website.

The message read, "We will be back next year once it's safe to resume.”

The government has restricted sports activities in view of the outbreak. Since kabaddi is a contact sport, it was expected that the eighth season would be postponed, also because in certain cities, including Delhi, there has lately been a spike in the number of new COVID-19 cases.

Also, PKL's five-year contract with its official broadcaster STAR Sports was finished in 2019. But no new contract has been renewed so far. Even PKL's bid to auction the media rights for the next cycle, following the expiry of STAR's contract, has been postponed, amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Bengal Warriors after beating Dabang Delhi clinched the title last year.