Premier Futsal announced the participating teams and fixtures for its inaugural season — starting on July 15 — at a press conference here on Tuesday.
The competition will feature six city-based franchises in two groups — Chennai 5s, Mumbai 5s, and Kochi 5s in Group-A; Goa 5s, Kolkata 5s, and Bengaluru 5s in Group-B — and 15 matches, including the semifinals and final, at Chennai and Goa. Chennai will hold the first six matches, and the rest till the final (July 24) will be held at Goa.
Former Brazil & Barcelona star Ronaldinho will be the marquee player for Goa, Ryan Giggs for Mumbai, Paul Scholes for Bengaluru, Hernan Crespo for Kolkata, and Michel Salgado for Kochi. Chennai has its marquee player in world-renowned Futsaller Falcao.
Present on the occasion were, Abhinandan Balasubramanian, CEO and co-founder, Premier Futsal, Dinesh Raj, MD and co-founder, Premier Futsal, Vimala Britto, Co-founder, Premier Futsal, and Namdev Shirgaonkar, President, Futsal Association of India.
Group-A:Chennai 5s:Owner: Chennai City Futsal Club LLP; Coach: Ney Pereira; Marquee player: Falcao.
Mumbai 5s:Owner: DC Design; Coach: Felice Mastropierro; Marquee player: Ryan Giggs.
Goa 5s:Owner: Viiking Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd; Coach: Octavio Gomes De Oliveira Junior; Marquee player: Ronaldinho.
Group-B: Kolkata 5s: Owner: Grassroot Entertainment Pvt. Ltd; Coach: Christian Roldan; Marquee player: Hernan Crespo.
Bengaluru 5s:Owner: Puneeth Rajkumar; Coach: Juan Jose Bernal Cierre; Marquee player: Paul Scholes.
Kochi 5s: Owner: ES Entertainment; Coach: Sergio Sapo; Marquee player: Michel Salgado.
