All India Football Federation on Sunday said that the unsanctioned Premier Futsal, scheduled to begin on July 15, will create unnecessary issues and also expressed serious doubts about the survival of the tournament.
The AIFF has asked its state units to advise the players under their jurisdiction not to associate with Premier Futsal with its General Secretary Kushal Das saying that no domestic footballer will take part in the unsanctioned league.
"AIFF has informed FIFA and all its stakeholders that this is an unauthorised and unofficial Futsal league since AIFF is also the governing body for Futsal in India. Such unauthorised and unofficial events can result in unnecessary issues, especially integrity issues. All our stakeholders understand that and will act accordingly. We do not need to take recourse to legal action," Das told.
"I understand from various sources that there are many issues regarding the event. I have heard from many sources that most of the players like Deco have not been paid the signing amount and have refused to travel to India," Das said.
He said sponsors would be wary to be associated with such unsanctioned events.
Premier Futsal, a franchise-based international futsal (a form of football being played indoors on a smaller field with five players in a side for 40-minute duration) tournament and promoted by an entity formed by Indian entrepreneurs, has attracted some of the world's best players but has struggled to convince domestic players to jump on its bandwagon.
"The AIFF will announce the launch of the Official Futsal league soon. In fact, one of the reasons the players do not want to play in the unofficial league is because they know the official league will be launched soon."