Futsal is a sport that has always been focused on entertainment; entertainment through the display of flamboyant skill, brilliant attacking football and entertaining characters on the field.
The game in India has been limited to futsal arenas opening up across different cities, with a lot of working professionals and college students going there to play and have fun.
Now, the Premier Futsal League is about to kick off in the country, and will work towards giving a highly professional outlook to the sport in India, and hopefully, begin a revolution which sees Futsal get the spotlight it deserves.
Before we get down to why Premier Futsal League will bring a revolution in the futsal industry, let’s try and explain what Futsal actually is! A game of two halves of 20 minutes each, futsal is action-packed, with only 5 players on each team.
The game differs a little from football in that there are kick-ins instead of throw-ins and the ball is a little smaller, enabling more power and better close control.
The Premier Futsal League will bring some of the world’s top futsal players to India to showcase their talent, and the organized format of the league will help put futsal well and truly on the map.
In order to ensure that the best 40 Indian futsal players are able to compete in the league, the PFL are organising trials across the country, to select only the best, who can then rub shoulders with the best in the world, in the process making the league very competitive and strong.
The trials from each city will see only 25 players selected from thousands who appear, with the 25 then taken for a rigorous boot camp with the coaching staff and international players, to select only the 5 best Indians to represent their city, 40 in total.
With about 50 international futsalers expected to participate, there will be players from 4 continents and 21 countries, bringing the who’s who of the sport to India. All these measures have been taken by the league to ensure the competitive nature and level of competition in the league is high.
Just to give a perspective of how big the league is going to be, the best futsal player of all time, Alessandro Rosa Vieira, or as he is better known, Falcao, will be part of one of the teams, which will be brilliant for the league!
As can be seen, the added quality and a rigorous selection procedure make the Premier Futsal League a very tough and well-planned competition, with only the best allowed to play.
To see that the game grows quickly in India, the Futsal Association of India has also signed an agreement with the United States Futsal Federation. The USFF will help FAI further develop the sport in India, while there will also be talent exchange programs, both of which will only help futsalers in the country flourish.
Virat Kohli, one of the world’s top cricketers and a huge football fan, is keenly associated with the league, as the brand ambassador while Luis Figo, President of Premier Futsal, are both working with the event very closely and their presence adds a great amount of importance and emphasis to the Premier Futsal League.
Competitive, professional leagues in India have taken off big time, with the IPL, ISL and PKL contributing big time to the growth and popularity of those sports in the country.
With the Premier Futsal League, the sport of Futsal is being given a tremendous push, and is a huge platform for Indian talent to show where they stand when compared to the world, and show how an actual culture for the beautiful game can be established in the country!
The league will be telecast live on Sony, giving it a good chance to develop a strong, loyal fanbase in each of the 8 cities, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Kochi, Goa and Hyderabad.
Futsal is a sport of finesse and flamboyance, and is based solely upon brilliant skill going hand-in-hand with outrageous attacking football. The development of such on the ball skills will help players in India get better, and will only help the growth of both football and futsal.
As the legendary Pele once said, “Futsal was important in helping to develop my ball control, quick thinking, passing… also for dribbling, balance, concentration… Futsal was very important, no doubt.”
The Premier Futsal League can be what the IPL was for T20 Cricket in India, and could be the beginning of a revolution in the country, one that sees football and futsal take centre-stage!
You can sign up by registering for the ongoing trials here.
