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Home > Sports News > Football News > Article > Premier Futsal Ryan Giggs led Mumbai team in trouble over name

Premier Futsal: Ryan Giggs-led Mumbai team in trouble over name

Updated on: 15 September,2017 04:57 PM IST  |  Mumbai
Noel D'Souza |

Controversy hit the starry Premier Futsal league on the eve of the second season yesterday when their Mumbai franchise landed in a legal soup with Mumbai Warriors SC, a four-year-old city football club

Premier Futsal: Ryan Giggs-led Mumbai team in trouble over name

Former England star footballer Ryan Giggs at Mumbai airport yesterday ahead of the second season of Premier Futsal. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
Former Wales star footballer Ryan Giggs at Mumbai airport yesterday ahead of the second season of Premier Futsal. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar


Controversy hit the starry Premier Futsal league on the eve of the second season yesterday when their Mumbai franchise landed in a legal soup with Mumbai Warriors SC, a four-year-old city football club.


In the inaugural season, Premier Futsal teams from different states were named — Mumbai 5s, Bengaluru 5s, Kolkata 5s, Chennai 5s, Goa 5s and Kochi 5s. However, while re-christening their sides this season, it looks like the organisers fell short in their research. The Mumbai team was named Mumbai Warriors without realising that there already exists a club called Mumbai Warriors SC in the city that plays in the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) leagues.


Mumbai Warriors SC sent a legal notice to Premier Futsal, Sony Six (the official broadcasters), Krystal Group (owners of Mumbai Warriors) and Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff (co-owner of Mumbai Warriors) yesterday.

Mistake realised
Spokesperson of the Mumbai football club Vaibhav Pawar revealed that the authorities realised about its namesake only a couple of days ago when Premier Futsal organised a press conference to announce the Mumbai team and the celebrity co-owner. "We came across some of the promotional material of Premier Futsal and we noticed that their Mumbai team was named Mumbai Warriors. We are a commercial entity for the past four years and have been actively participating in the MDFA. We immediately sent a notice to them," Pawar told mid-day yesterday.

Pawar also informed that since the season runs from September 15 to October 1, the parties concerned have agreed that the Mumbai futsal franchise's name will not be renamed as it would result in huge monetary losses on Premier Futsal's behalf. However, the official broadcasters will issue a three-second disclaimer stating: "Mumbai Warriors Soccer Club has no association whatsoever with Premier Futsal or any of its partners/franchise thereof."

"Premier Futsal agreed that it was a mistake on their part and they have told us that they will not use the name after the 2017 season. All our agreements have been written in a contract and has been signed by the concerned parties," the official added.

'Legal team looking into it'
Premier Futsal's CEO and co-owner, Abhinandan Balasubramanian refused to react except for saying that his, "programming and legal team are taking care of the issue."

Season 2 of Premier Futsal begins at NSCI, Worli today when defending champs Mumbai Warriors face Delhi Dragons. The semis and final will be held in Dubai from September 26 to October 1.

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