Premier Futsal on Thursday announced a talent hunt to identify and select local players for its inaugural season later this year. The process will begin in Mumbai on May 26 and head to Goa, Kochi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Delhi before concluding on June 21. The talent hunt is open to players between 18 and 24 years of age.
>Falcao: Futsal helps develop ball-playing skills
“We will select 25 players from each city and take them to a three-week coaching camp in Mumbai. From that group, we will eventually pick five players from each city to represent their teams,” said Dinesh Raj, Managing Director, Premier Futsal.
The eight franchises will have a squad size of 14, with five Indian and nine overseas players. At least one ‘marquee’ player and one Indian player will have to be on the pitch at all times. Brazil’s Falcao, one of the world’s most popular futsal (a condensed, indoor five-a-side version of football) players, was recently announced as Premier Futsal’s first ‘marquee’ signing. “I don’t yet know what team I’m going to play for,” he said here. “I’m committed to this project for the next five years.”
Raj declared that the teams, all to be trained by international coaches, would be finalised in the first week of June.
Virat Kohli, the event’s ambassador, dismissed the idea of investing in a franchise here. “I’m an ambassador for the whole event. I don’t see any point in owning a team,” he said.
The first edition of Premier Futsal is scheduled to be played from July 15 to 24.
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