Virat Kohli breaks ties with Premier Futsal League after AIFF snub

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New Delhi, Sep 15: Star India cricketer Virat Kohli has snapped his ties with the Premier Futsal League a year after he was made the brand ambassador of the 5-a-side variant of a football tournament.

The world's first multinational Futsal league began amid much fanfare last year as international football stars like Ryan Giggs, Ronaldinho, Paul Scholes, Hernan Crespo and Cafu were part of it.

Association with India's most popular athletes also proved to be fruitful for the organisers as Kohli's name drew a good crowd in the first season. PFL received good support from the fans due to Kohli.

The 28-year-old cricketer united with music maestro AR Rahman for the Futsal anthem that became very popular amongst Indian fans.

But, the association hit a major roadblock when All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel expressed his displeasure over Kohli's tie-up with the PFL, which is not recognised by the AIFF.

Kohli also happens to be the co-owner of Indian Super League (ISL) franchise FC Goa and his association with a rival league too wasn't liked by the AIFF.

Patel took to Twitter to point out that any brand ambassador of the ISL cannot unite with any other league, especially the ones unrecognised by country's governing body of football.

As per a Bangalore Mirror report, the Delhi-lad has completed the legal formalities for stepping down from his brand ambassador role of the PFL.

Kohli is now preparing for India's ODI series against Australia. The charismatic skipper will be leading the team in the opening game at Chennai on Sunday (September 17).