Futsal, a shorter version of football which is played with five players on each side and with each half lasting for twenty minutes, has gained a lot of interest recently. Governed by the Futsal Association of India (FAI) along with help from the International Governing Body Association Mundial de Futsal, the 2016 Premier Futsal league will be the inaugural tournament in the premier futsal, the Futsal league.
India cricket star Virat Kohli along with Falcao; one of the best futsal players in the world and Luis Figo the President of Premier Futsal joined as brand ambassadors of the game. Virat Kohli and Falcao went on a nationwide talent hunt and selected 40 players who will represent their cities in the first edition of Premier Futsal.
The Futsal League brings together 72 of the best Futsal players from across the world. The six teams comprise of twelve players with three international Futsal players and one international marquee football player. The teams are only allowed to use five players at any point during the game. This Franchise based league is set to take place from the 15th of July to the 24th of July; the games will be played in Jawaharlal Nehru indoor stadium in Chennai and Peddem Sports Complex in Goa.
The six teams will be separated into two groups, group A and group B, and each team will play four matches. The top two teams at the end of the group stage from each group will play in the semi-finals.
Bengaluru team coached by Juan Jose Bernal Cierre has recruited the retired English footballer Paul Scholes as their marquee player. Octavio Gomes De Oliveira Junior the coach for the Goa team is playing with the Brazilian footballer Ronaldo de Assis Moreira who is popularly known as Ronaldinho. Segio Sapo, the Kochi team coach has the retired Spanish footballer, Michel Salgado, who appeared in 343 La Liga games. Kolkata’s coach Christian Roldan has retired Argentinean footballer Hernan Jorge Crespo as their marquee signing. Former Manchester United player and assistant manager, Ryan Giggs, has been taken in by Felice Mastropierro for the Mumbai team. As for Chennai, they have Falcao and being the only professional Futsal player among the marquee players, it gives coach Ney Pereira and his Chennai team the upper hand.
Conceptualised by Indian entrepreneurs under Premier Futsal Management Pvt. Ltd.The first ever Multi-national Futsal league was founded by Abhinandan Balasubramanian, Dinesh Raj and Nithyashree Subban, backed by business magnate Xavier Britto and his wife, philanthropist Vimala Britto. Sony Pictures networks Indian Private Limited.has exclusive rights to telecast the game live on Sony Six, Sony ESPN and Sony Aath; it will also be available on Sony LIV.
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Mumbai | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 9 |
| 2 | Kochi | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 14 | +1 | 5 |
| 3 | Chennai | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 15 | -3 | 2 |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Goa | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 7 |
| 2 | Kolkata | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 6 |
| 3 | Bengaluru | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 2 |
