Ronaldinho and Giggs for Futsal

The inaugural Premier Futsal League will be graced by a star cast of Ronaldinho, Ryan Giggs, Hernan Crespo and Paul Scholes and the tournament will get underway at the Nehru Stadium here on Friday.

Former Portugese star Deco pulled out at the last minute owing to an injury and was replaced by the Brazilian Falcao, a futsal specialist, as the sixth marquee player. Michel Salgado of Spain completes the marquee player list.

The six marquee players are — Falcao ( Chennai), Giggs ( Mumbai), Crespo ( Kolkata), Scholes ( Bengaluru), Salgado ( Kochi) and Ronaldinho ( Goa).

The originally planned eight- team competition will now have only six franchises ( Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kochi, Bengaluru and Goa) with Hyderabad and Delhi failing to find a place in the league.

The first edition will see six franchises divided into two groups of three each to slug it out over 13 matches to make it to the final which will be played in Goa on July 24.

For the next season, all the players will go back into a pool and the owners will have to pick their team through a bidding process. The Chennaiteam, named Chennai 5s, have roped in Falcao as their marquee player with Ney Pereira as their coach. The league will be played at two venues — Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai and Peddem Sports Complex in Goa.

Futsal is a 5- a- side game that is made up of two halves lasting 20 minutes each. Teams are permitted to make unlimited rolling substitutions. It is played indoors on hard court surfaces which are usually made of teraflex. The combination of the surface, the ball and the rules create an emphasis on the use of ball control, awareness, improvisation, technique and creativity.

The first match will see hosts Chennai squaring off against Mumbai followed by Goa taking on Kolkata. Two matches have been scheduled for a day.

THE POOLS Group A: Chennai, Mumbai, Kochi. Group B: Goa, Kolkata, Bengaluru.