“Our aim is to make India a Futsal nation,” says the Chairman of AIFF Futsal Committee Vijay Bali ahead of the second edition of the Futsal Championship

Indian football is making new avenues everyday and Futsal is one such avenue where India can gain global plaudits if some specific things are implemented properly. Ahead of the second Futsal Club Championship, the All India Football Federation for the first time will keep a watch on the players from the league and select the best from this nation to form the National Futsal team.

AIFF is paying close attention to Futsal and hence AIFF Futsal Committee Chairman Mr. Vijay Bali is given the responsibility to head the futsal wing of the AIFF and help the shorter format of the beautiful game to grow in all parts of the country. He is literally on a mission to help India become a Futsal nation.

“The Futsal Committee will have another meeting during the Hero Futsal Club Championship in January. Our aim is to make India a futsal nation. Football has been played for a long time here, but it is not the case with futsal. However, there’s plenty of scope for our young players to make it to the international level,” said Mr. Bali.

He also revealed how the plan is to promote and build more Futsal academies so that players can play the game properly rather than playing on artificial pitches or on grass pitches. He also wants to gradually introduce more futsal tournaments all across the country to popularize the game.

“We want to introduce futsal in academies across the country and eliminate the paucity of proper futsal courts in India so that players don’t have to play on grass or artificial pitches. We also need to gradually introduce futsal tournaments at the youth level. Developing futsal will benefit us in football as well. Football is a fast game and futsal is even faster. Players need to dribble quicker, pass quicker and react quicker,” he added.

It was earlier announced by the AIFF Futsal Committee that the 2022-23 Futsal Club Championship will take place at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.

The top three teams from last edition will be once again taking part in this year’s Futsal Championship as decided by the Committee. “The championship was planned keeping in mind the international competitions for clubs and national teams, so that the best futsal players represent India internationally,” Mr. Bali concluded.