Bengaluru: Kannada cinema’s poster boy Puneeth Rajkumar has signed a long-term agreement with Premier Futsal to acquire the Bengaluru franchise.
Premier Futsal is a private and semi-professional Futsal league that will be hosted from July 15 - 26 to create awareness of futsal as a sport in India.
Premier Futsal will make India the first country in the world to host a multi-national All-Star Futsal tournament that brings the legends of football and futsal together.
The agreement, for an undisclosed sum, makes Bengaluru the third franchise to be sold after the youngest son of Rajkumar, Kannada cinema’s most decorated actor picked up the Bengaluru 5’s franchise.
The multi-talented Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar said, “Bengaluru is consuming new sports with much curiosity. A fast paced sport like futsal is certain to catch the imagination of the youth in Bengaluru. It is an honour to be a part of something that is happening for the first time in our country and I am certain the people from Bengaluru will come forth and support our venture to lead the Bengaluru franchise of Premier Futsal.”
The Bengaluru franchise will be known as ‘Bengaluru 5s’, similar to how the all the teams will be named in the inaugural season. The franchise-owners will then be allowed to re-brand their respective teams from the second season onward.
Premier Futsal Managing Director Dinesh Raj said, “We are delighted to announce one of Kannada cinema’s most decorated families picking up our Bengaluru franchise. It is a great opportunity for us to introduce a new sport to Karnataka. The response we have received from prospective owners across all cities validates our decision to get behind futsal as sport. We will unveil owners of the other franchises on Tuesday, July 12.”
The league has signed some of the best futsallers in the world – spearheaded by Alessandro Rosa Vieira, fondly known as ‘Falcao’.
Each franchise will be assigned a marquee international football player, seven international and five Indian futsallers for their squad to participate in the inaugural season through a player draft scheduled later this month.
