MUMBAI: The promoter of Chennai City FC, has bagged Premier Futsal’s Chennai squad, making it the first franchise to be picked up ahead of the league’s inaugural season.
The franchise has been bought by football aficionado and sports entrepreneur Rohit Ramesh for an undisclosed sum in a long-term agreement with Premier Futsal. Ramesh, as the promoter of the franchise will be responsible for the operation of the team, marketing as well as grassroots development for sustained talent growth.
“I’m delighted to acquire the Chennai franchise of Premier Futsal. It gives me immense pride especially because it’s Chennai, my home city. Futsal is extremely popular across the world and I’m confident that through Premier Futsal, the sport will grow to occupy a prominent place amid Indian sports. We share the organizers long-term vision for this property and look forward to an exciting long-term association ahead,” said Ramesh
The Premier Futsal claims to bring the legends of football and Futsal together.
Led by the ‘Pele of Futsal’, Alessandro Rosa Vieira, known as Falcão, the league will feature over 50 International Futsallers from four continents and 21 countries.
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.
Premier Futsal Managing director, Dinesh Raj said, “We are very happy to have Mr. Rohit Ramesh on-board as the owner of our Chennai franchise. Our intention is to develop each team as a club which evokes a culture and values that are distinctive to the city it represents. Therefore we were seeking partners who can make a long-term commitment towards developing their club’s identity while at the same time nurturing future talent. Mr. Ramesh is passionate about sport and football in particular, as evident from his ownership of Chennai City FC, which combined with his technical expertise and business acumen make him the ideal partner for our Chennai franchise.”
Premier Futsal will begin from July 15, 2016, and will be telecast live and exclusive on Sony SIX, SONY ESPN and Sony AATH. Matches will also be available to live stream on Sony LIV.