Premier Futsal, the world’s first and biggest multi-national franchise-based Futsal league, is all set to kick off on Friday, September 15, in Mumbai with some of the biggest names in sports endorsing it.
However, one sporting celebrity who will no longer be part of this event is India’s cricket captain Virat Kohli.
Although the management has not confirmed it, reports suggest that Kohli who was the brand ambassador for the even last year when Premier Futsal debuted has had to part ways with the league.
Having been a co-owner of the Goa franchise of the Indian Super League (ISL), Kohli’s association did not go down well with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and ISL.
Premier Futsal is not recognised by AIFFor the footballing world body FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association).
Praful Patel, the AIFF president, had called him out in a tweet back in June 2016.
Any brand Ambassador of an ISL franchise cannot do the same for a league not recognised by #AIFF or #FIFA
— Praful Patel (@praful_patel) June 18, 2016Bangalore Mirror reported that Kohli completed the legal formalities for an amicable parting of ways with the league.
Kohli was announced as the brand ambassador of the league in April last year and also appeared in the Futsal Anthem video with AR Rahman as well.
However, this year Kohli’s image and footage have not been used in the promotion of the tournament since he did not shoot for the league.
This year’s futsal will have legendary footballers like Ronaldinho, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Cafu playing in the league.