After football, India to now have its own Premier Futsal league

Real Madrid footballer, Luis Figo launched India's first futsal league, that'll be held in July this year, comprising of 8 teams

Portuguese football legend Luis Figo on Tuesday announced the launch of Premier Futsal, a first-ever multi-national futsal league conceptualised by Indian entrepreneurs under the entity Premier Futsal Management. The league will take place from July 15-24 featuring eight teams from different cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Kochi and Chennai. Futsal, a 5-a-side variant of soccer with two halves of 20 minutes each, is governed by Futsal Association of India (FAI) with accreditation from the international governing body, Asociación Mundial de Futsal (AMF). Premier Futsal will include a total of 56 current players from across the world in a competitive format.
 
Each team will mandatorily comprise of three international futsal players, one international marquee soccer player and one Indian Futsal player with the squad comprising of twelve players.

Figo said, “Premier Futsal is set to take the sport to the next level internationally. Back in Portugal, I have played Futsal extensively growing up which instilled quick thinking, skills and close control. In the last two decades, the sport has established its identity and with Premier Futsal, we hope to further propagate the sport in its individual capacity.”

Premier Futsal, in association with FAI, will launch a talent hunt program across eight cities to scout and select Indian players. It would comb through 2,500 participants a city, to shortlist five regional players for each team.

Balu Nayar, executive director, Premier Futsal said, “We are currently in talks with various broadcasters for media rights. The monetisation model will follow that of the current leagues with a central revenue pool comprising of media rights revenue and central sponsorships.”

The league will announce the franchise acquisition process in May.