USA: major European football clubs and NBA owners to launch Professional Futsal League in 2017

FC Barcelona (Liga BBVA), Club Atlético de Madrid (Liga BBVA), Mark Cuban (owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise) and the Buss family (owner of the LA Lakers NBA franchise) are all expected to be involved in the launch of a Professional Futsal League in the United States, according to multiple American media reports on 23/02/2016.

Futsal, played indoors and the only version of five-a-side football sanctioned by FIFA, is currently played in 198 of the 207 member federations of the international football body. The FIFA Futsal World Cup is played every four years, with the next tournament scheduled from 10/09/2016 to 01/10/2016 in Colombia.

The PFL (Professional Futsal League) in the USA is in the early stages of planning, with the goal of launching the league in 2017 with 16 teams. The season length is expected to be around 50 games, mostly played in NBA arenas. In addition to the names above, CA Boca Juniors (Argentina), SC Corinthians (Brazil) and Mikhail Prokhorov (owner of the Brooklyn Nets NBA franchise) will also own teams in the new PFL.

• The Professional Futsal League…