Futsal global body extends support to the Premier Futsal

Chandigarh, April 7, 2016: The Associacion Mundial de Futsal (AMF) has extended its firm support to the soon-to-be launched the Premier Futsal, the eight-city, five-a-side franchise-based league.

AMF Vice-President and Founding President of Futsal Association of India (FAI) Namdev Shirgaonkar said, “Both AMF and FAI are firmly behind Premier Futsal. I believe Premier Futsal will lead to development of talent at the grassroots level in the country and will boost the sport’s future in India.”

AMF, set up in 1971, is the first governing body of the game of Futsal and has organized multiple global tournaments as the global governing body of futsal. FAI is affiliated to the AMF, and is the only body doing any significant work on Futsal in India. FAI has engaged a few thousand futsal players over the past eight years, have held a national tournament that was telecast on Doordarshan, and have sent players to participate in Asian and World tournaments.

Executive Director, Premier Futsal, Balu Nayar, said, “The Management of Premier Futsal would like to state that we have the necessary sanctions and permissions from the international and Indian governing body to conduct the league in India. We operate in partnership with the Associacion Mundial de Futsal (AMF), the international parent body for the sport as well as its Indian affiliate, the Futsal Association of India (FIA). The primary area of partnership is in grassroots talent search, where we will be holding programs around India. An average of 2500 participants from each of the 8 catchment areas will be chosen to begin with, from which 5 will be selected to play for each of the teams. These Indian players will have the opportunity to play along with the best of global talent.”

Premier Futsal, world’s first multi-national team based Futsal league, is set to take place in India from 15thJuly to 24th July. The league is set to receive participation from over 50 International Futsalers, representing 4 Continents & 21 countries.

The league was launched in Mumbai earlier this week in presence of the founding team and FAI representative.