It’s the season of Indian Premier League-style sporting leagues in India and one more of them is coming our way. Only, this time it will be a variation of an already recognised Premier Futsal promises to bring football’s younger cousin futsal to Indian shores.
The organisers of Premier Futsal are in top promotional gear: former Portuguese legend Luis Figo has been signed up as president while Indian cricket’s current heartthrob Virat Kohli is the brand ambassador. They have already pulled off a coup of sorts by signing up former Manchester United legend Paul Scholes.
Unfortunately, due to the convoluted manner in which the game is organised at the international level, Premier Futsal has found itself in conflict with the All Indian Football Federation which has asked its constituent federations to keep away from the tournament. This could mean a parallel tournament featuring also-rans, but hey, the skills on show might still be great.
A true game of skill
Despite being derived from football, futsal has a different grammar. It is played between teams of five players each with unlimited substitutions on a much smaller field. The surface is hard, and the ball is also smaller, not bouncing as much as a regular football. Because of this, futsal can be extremely exciting to watch as the players have to continuously improvise.
The condensed version of the game has helped some of its best to sharpen their skills in the bigger format. Barcelona’s Brazilian wonderkid Neymar has spoken in glowing terms about how playing futsal as a child helped him think quickly. “It’s a more dynamic game and today in Europe there’s not much space so you need to think quicker and futsal has helped me a lot with that,” he said.
Glowing testimonials
Even the two arguably greatest players in the world at present owe their skills to this format. Lionel Messi started off playing futsal with Argentinian club Newell’s Old Boys. “As a little boy in Argentina, I played futsal on the streets and for my club. It was tremendous fun, and it really helped me become who I am today,” he said. And his Real Madrid and Portugal rival Cristiano Ronaldo agreed, arguing that the small playing area of futsal had helped him improve his close control.
Even the erstwhile Argentinian great Diego Maradona has tried his hands (well, feet) at futsal.
But futsal has its own stars. The biggest among them is Brazil’s Falcao who is widely recognised as the world’s best futsal player. He helped the Brazil team win two Futsal World Cups in 2008 and 2012. But it’s his incredible skills with the ball which make his fans go weak at the knees. Indian fans will get the opportunity to view it at close quarters, for Falcao will also be a part of Premier Futsal league.
There is no word yet on when the futsal league will officially begin and the jury is still out on the details. But those involved in the league remain bullish. Deco, a former Real Madrid footballer and the first marquee signing of the league, felt Indian football could improve if children took up futsal, as it would help them pick up important skills. What he may not know is that street and park football is the staple version of the game across most of India.
With people like Figo, Deco and Scholes, the proposed Premier Futsal league is not short of heavyweights. Now the question is, will it actually have a lasting impact on Indian football’s prospects by nurturing youngsters or become just a exhibition tournament?