Premier Futsal | |
Organiser: | Futsal Association of India |
Country: | India (originally) |
Founded: | 5 April 2016 |
Teams: | 16 (proposed) |
Tv: | Sony SIX Sony ESPN Sony Aath |
Champions: | Mumbai Warriors |
The Premier Futsal is an Indian franchise-based futsal league conceptualised by Indian entrepreneurs under the entity of Pvt. Ltd. It was founded by Abhinandan Balasubramanian, Dinesh Raj and Nithyashree Subban, backed by business magnate Xavier Britto and his wife, philanthropist Vimala Rani Britto.
Each playing team consists of three international futsal players, one international marquee football player and one Indian futsal player. Every squad is allowed a maximum of twelve players.
Premier Futsal conducted a talent hunt programme across eight cities called Launchpad to scout and select Indian players. The programme combed through 2500 participants per city to shortlist five regional players for each team.[1] Mumbai 5's won the inaugural Premier Futsal by defeating Kochi 5's in the penalty shootout.
Indian cricket team batsman Virat Kohli has joined the Premier Futsal as its brand ambassador.[5]
Premier Futsal attracted a lot of fans when they signed one of the best futsal players in the world, Alessandro Rosa Vieira, popularly known as Falcão.[6]
On 12 May 2016, Virat Kohli along with Falcão facilitated the launch of the nationwide talent hunt to select 40 players who will represent their respective cities in the first season of Premier Futsal.[7]
The Premier Futsal anthem Naam Hai Futsal had its tunes set by two-time Academy Award winner A. R. Rahman with vocals also provided by Karthik, Lady Kash and Virat Kohli.
Kolkata 5's | Kolkata, West Bengal | Grassroot Entertainment Pvt. Ltd | Hernán Crespo | Christian Roldan | ||
Chennai Singhams | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | The Hindu | Falcão | Falcão | ||
Bengaluru Royals | Bengaluru, Karnataka | Puneeth Rajkumar[8] | Paul Scholes | Juan Jose Bernal Cierre | ||
Telugu Tigers | Hyderabad, Telangana | Rana Daggubati Esa Mohammed and Jonaid Bin Tajuddin Al Mohammed | Deco | |||
Kerala Cobras | Kochi, Kerala | ES Entertainment | Míchel Salgado | Sergio Sapo | ||
Mumbai Warriors | Mumbai, Maharashtra | DC Design | Ryan Giggs | Ney Pereira | ||
Delhi Dragons | New Delhi | Ronaldinho | ||||
Goa's | Goa | Cafu |
2016 | 24 July | Mumbai | 1(3)–1(2) | Kerala | Peddem Sports Complex, Mapusa, Goa | Chaguinha | Kolkata Goa | |
2017 | 1 October | Mumbai | 3–2 | Delhi | Al Wasl Indoor Stadium, Dubai | Ronaldinho | Telugu Tigers Bengaluru Royals |
Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd. acquired exclusive rights to broadcast Premier Futsal. As part of the agreement, all Premier Futsal matches will be televised live on Sony SIX, Sony ESPN and Sony Aath. Matches will also be available to live stream on Sony LIV.[9]
In Indonesia, all Premier Futsal matches also broadcast live on nonton.com (2016 only)[10] and Super Soccer TV (from 2017).[11]