From Futsal Online<br><br>U.S. Professional
Futsal League Sanctioned<br><br>AUSTIN, Texas (2-8-01) -
Scott Placek, commissioner of the<br>Professional
Futsal League, announced that the league has
received<br>official sanctioning as a professional league from the
United States Futsal<br>Federation, the governing body
for the sport in the United States.<br><br>Futsal is
a five-a-side version of soccer played indoors on
a<br>basketball-sized court. While not as well known in America as the
indoor<br>soccer played in a hockey style rink, Futsal has
experienced tremendous<br>growth in participation in this
country, and is the only indoor version of<br>soccer with
a sanctioned world championship. The sport is
played<br>internationally, with recognized continental and club
championships. A<br>strong movement is afoot to include Futsal
as a demonstration sport in the<br>2004 Olympic
games.<br><br>The PFL will begin play in December 2001 with an
eight-team division<br>based in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana
and Arkansas. The league office will be<br>located in
Austin, Texas. The league is currently in the process
of<br>fielding inquiries from parties interested in operating a
team in the<br>league, as well as from players
interested in joining the new league.<br>League plans call
for expansion of divisional play to the West Coast
and<br>southeastern United States as part of a five-year plan to
develop a national<br>league.<br><br>To assist franchise
stability, the league will operate under a strict<br>salary
cap and limit regular season play to divisional games
to maintain<br>reasonable travel expenses. Each team
will also be required to operate or<br>affiliate with
a local futsal league to increase youth players'
exposure to<br>and participation in the
game.<br><br>Commenting on the league's sanctioning, Placek said, "We are
pleased<br>with the decision of the USFF to sanction the league.
I believe our key to<br>success was showing the
league a sound business plan and an operations
team<br>with a track record for launching successful soccer
ventures." Placek sees<br>the league's founding as a boon to
futsal in the U.S. "Obviously, having<br>visibility on
the professional level is a key part to gaining
acceptance as<br>a major sport. In addition, the Federation
has committed to using the PFL<br>as a resource to
develop its national team players and coaches. We
believe<br>putting players into a pro futsal environment, as they
are in Europe and<br>South America, can only increase
U.S. competitiveness in
world<br>competitions."<br><br>The Professional Futsal League's website can be
accessed at<br><a href=http://www.profutsal.com.
target=new>http://www.profutsal.com.</a><br><br>For
Additional Information:<br>Scott Placek<br>(512)
651-7008<br>splacek@...