Premier Futsal 2016: All you need to know about the league, teams, and schedule

Premier Futsal, the world’s first multi-national futsal tournament will start on 15 July and the inaugural game will be held at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in Chennai. The first edition of the tournament will divide the six franchises into two groups and after eight days and 13 matches, the final will be held in Goa on 24 July. Premier Futsal has gained a lot of attention after three marquee players – ex-Manchester United assistant manager Ryan Giggs, Barcelona legend Ronaldinho and former AC Milan marksman Hernan Crespo – joined the league.

Vem vindo, @10Ronaldinho! Here’s his message for India. He’s representing Goa in the first season of #PremierFutsal! pic.twitter.com/MiuvzdFzZj

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

— Premier Futsal (@PremierFutsalHQ) July 13, 2016

Apart from them, the league had earlier signed another Class of 92 legend Paul Scholes, former Real Madrid player Michel Salgado and Brazilian Futsal legend Falcao. Porto’s Champions League winner Deco was also supposed to be a part of the inaugural tournament but was ruled out due to injury. Speaking at the event, Premier Futsal Co-Founder Nithyashree Subban said, “Amidst all the false allegations and attempts to tarnish the image of Premier Futsal, we are proud to kick-start our inaugural edition as scheduled on 15 July here in Chennai. It was a strategic decision to host the league in just two cities; Chennai and Goa, and with six franchises."

Just 40 minutes to make a statement? More than enough for the #PremierFutsal legends! #Futsal101 pic.twitter.com/st193gh34i

— Premier Futsal (@PremierFutsalHQ) July 5, 2016

More from Sports

Gurel offers support to Gukesh after struggling world champion’s hat-trick of losses: 'He can pull things through' 'Helpless' Gukesh hits rock bottom after another defeat to lower-rated teenage player

He then went onto say,“We have managed to secure signatures of players who are the legends of the game and will be seen playing in India in a few days. As Premier Futsal Management, we are committed to grow Futsal here in India and we will expand the league to other cities in the future editions.” The full squads along with coaches for each of the franchises have also been announced. The teams have been picked by an independent committee comprising of International Futsal experts with a view to make the teams balanced and the league competitive. All six teams will have one marquee player and a mix of international as well as national futsallers. Here are the teams

For the next season, all the Futsallers will go back in to the bidding pool and the owners will have to pick their team through a bidding process. The marquee players which have allotted will remain with the six franchises for the next season as well.

Save the dates! #PremierFutsal starts July 15. ☝☝

You can watch the matches on @SonySIX, @SONYESPN and Sony Aath. pic.twitter.com/zZKWvcaIN0

— Premier Futsal (@PremierFutsalHQ) July 13, 2016

Earlier, the Premier Futsal had run into a bit of trouble after the AIFF imposed sanctions on them. The All India Football Federation said that the unsanctioned Premier Futsal, will create unnecessary issues and also expressed serious doubts about the survival of the tournament. The AIFF has asked its state units to advise the players under their jurisdiction not to associate with Premier Futsal with its General Secretary Kushal Das saying that no domestic footballer will take part in the unsanctioned league. The matches will be telecast live on Sony SIX, SONY ESPN and Sony AATH. Matches will also be available to live stream on SonyLIV.