How India is catching up to the Futsal Trend

                                              Futsal Trend Reflection (Indiamart.com)

There is a new, exciting, awesome, sexy team sport which is on the way here to India. Futsal – a new, fast form of football is in India and oh Boy, it is here to stay!!! Without a doubt, I can say that Futsal in India is getting popularized and it is on the verge of positive trajectory.

To those who are wondering what Futsal is, it is a variant of  football that is played on a smaller pitch and mainly played indoors. Futsal is played between two teams each with five players. The game is played on a hard court surface delimited by lines, walls and boards. Governed by the Futsal Association of India, this modified version of football is much quicker than the original and with fewer players as well.

Recently, India joined the growing popularity of five-a-side football with the launch of Futsal friendly competition. There are many futsal championships hosted in India mainly in Bangalore, Mumbai, Kochi, Jaipur and Kolkata. To support this growing passion, Indian team was placed third at the Asia Cup that took place in Malaysia. Beat that!

Being a sport that has the second largest fan following after cricket, football’s variant Futsal, is very thrilling and is quite fast paced with a great fan following. The youth is now treating this game as a new born child taking care of it at each and every step of its journey into becoming one of the most loved game in India.

Chennai now has a group of youngsters, who are in their early twenties, who have been friends from school who have created history by establishing first ‘rooftop futsal’ facility in Kilpauk. This facility is built similar to the one in Wembley, London. It has been named after the game’s original name from Brazil and Uruguay “Tiki-Taka”.

Former ‘FIFA player of the world’ Luis Figo will be in India to explore business opportunities which includes launching his own football academy here. He has already opened 14 centers in China and if everything goes well India will be on the same road. This will conduce the fact that India will be and should be the next big thing in the world of Futsal.

Centers are being setup, encouraging youngsters of India towards this exciting sport. It will also be useful for school kids who want to grow into football.

It is time for us Indians to welcome this sport which will help us make a permanent mark on the world in field of this sport. Go Futsal! We will support you all the way! You are here to stay!