Mumbai: After the success of IPL, it’s football’s turn to go short and sweet.
Come July, speed, spectacle, skill and flair will be on show in eight Indian cities with Premier Futsal, which can be conveniently called the T20 of football.
Heading the caravan as its president is Portuguese legend and former world footballer of the year Luis Figo. On Tuesday, the 43-year-old launched the League, with Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi and Goa as the franchise cities. “I think it’s a fantastic moment for me to be here in India and contribute. I think it’s a big opportunity to develop the game in India,” Figo said.
“The opportunity was proposed to me by my Indian partners, who challenged me to help them build this. I will be part of the structure — the company, the League’s Ambassador, and just might get an invitation to play in one of the teams,” he laughed during an interaction. Going by his fit frame, he won’t look out of place though.
Speaking about promoting the game, Figo, who played 127 matches for Portugal, said: “India is a huge county but I feel the kids here don’t have a real great footballer to look up to, unlike cricket which has so many stars. That is what this league will work towards – to help construct facilities and create conditions to build good talent for the future.”
He also stressed on the importance of creating a sporting culture. “You’ve got to work at the grassroot level. I know it for sure, having set up some football academies in China over the last two years.”
The equation, according to Figo, is simple. “Kids usually start at the school-street level, and then move on to the small clubs before graduating to the bigger ones. That’s the structure I have followed to come up in life,” said the Portuguese powerhouse.
Futsal is much faster and builds better ball control and reflexes as the ball-to-player contact is six times more than in a football match. The goal average too is 2.3 more times better than football. It’s exciting and is much like a T20 version of football.
