Premier Futsal to be back in Jan 2017

The second instalment will have eight teams and new venues

Despite the controversies and challenges the tournament faced in its debut year, Premier Futsal promoter and chairman Xavier Britto is confident of the sport’s future in India, and intends to bring the league back for its second season in January next year.

The new season will have eight instead of six teams and will take place at more venues around the country.

“The response we got for the first season has been very good. Most of the matches saw stadiums drawing above 90 per cent occupancy. We noticed a lot of young women enjoyed the games as well. It’s a good start for sure,” says Britto.

The new teams could be from Pune, Vizag or Delhi, and the new venues could be Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru.

Premier Futsal was held last week across two venues – Chennai and Goa - with Sunday night seeing Mumbai win the finals. A total of six teams participated with a 12-player squad each.

The tournament was aired on channels across Sony Pictures Network India and also was available on Facebook Live, the new video platform of the social networking site. This is was another first for an Indian league.

Britto adds that the success of the tournament can be gauged from the response it received on social media with an organic reach of 12 million on Facebook and 3.5 million impressions on Twitter in July.

The promoter also hopes to have a good sponsorship run in the second season. “This year, we were not very aggressive. It’s a new sport and format. In India, there is a wait-and-watch period for anything new. Now, when people have seen the quality of the games, and that audiences can be interested in the tournament, I am sure we’ll have brand associations. We have already got requests, and from international brands,” says Britto.

The league is looking at finalising the title sponsor for the tournament in the coming weeks, and will be looking at long-term partners; those willing to commit for at least three years.

“We have some of the best players from the world of futsal in the league and that has lifted the skill level of the game. Brands should see the opportunity it presents,” he adds.

Apart from starting preps for the second season, the league is working with schools and colleges to develop the sport at the grass-root level. It has enlisted the help of footballer Radamel Falcao to start a futsal academy in the country.