India given wildcard for AMF Under-17 Futsal World Cup!

The Association Mundial de Futsal (AMF), which is termed a rebel association by world football governing body FIFA, and is supporting the upcoming inaugural Premier Futsal league in India, in support of the development of futsal in India has given India a wildcard to participate in the AMF Under-17 Futsal World Cup to be played in Paraguay from July 11 to 20, 2016.

India will be amongst the 12 participating nations and has been drawn in Zone A along with Paraguay, Catalonia and Kazakhstan.

Zone B will have Colombia, Belgium, Brazil and Australia; while Zone C will feature Argentina, Uruguay, Morocco and Curazao.

The Futsal Association of India (FAI) will hold the U-17 Futsal Nationals in Haryana from June 14-16, after which the India Under-17 probables for the Paraguay event will be shortlisted, who will undergo a training camp from June 23 to July 5 in Mumbai.

Futsal Association of India president Namdev Shirgaonkar said: “We thank the AMF for extending an invitation to India to compete in one of its marquee tournaments.”

This participation in a junior World Cup is another sign of support by the AMF to futsal in India.