BALLER LEAGUE is a star-studded six-a-side competition played indoors that is heading to the UK – with the draft taking place TONIGHT!
KSI and his group the Sidemen are onto their next venture after selling out Wembley Stadium for their charity match against YouTube Allstars, which raised more than £4.7MILLION.
Maya Jama is set to manage a team in the Baller League[/caption]
Alisha Lehmann will be her co-manager[/caption]
Now, the 31-year-old boxer is the president of the Baller League in the UK, with huge names like John Terry, Gary Lineker and Luis Figo set to appear as managers.
Other people in the dugout include the star-studded duos of Maya Jama and Alisha Lehmann, and Ian Wright and Chloe Kelly.
Brit Award winner Dave and fashion icon Clint 419 also have teams.
The six-a-side competition is designed to try and captivate fans, with new rules such as the goalkeeper being unable to use their hands introduced in the final three minutes of each half.
Games will consist of two 15 minute halves.
After 11 games, the top four placed teams will meet in the play-offs to determine the winner of the competition.
Games will be played weekly every Monday from March 24, and will stream live on YouTube and Twitch, as well as be shown on Sky Sports in the UK.
SunSport is also set to blog tonight’s player draft and Baller League matches.
Who is playing in Baller League UK?
There have been a number of ex and current pros confirmed as being involved in the league.
It is so far unclear how the draft will work, if it’s a free-for-all or if managers will need to limit the amount of ex/current pros in their teams and ensure there are influencers.
The league has 12 teams with 12 players in each team.
Baller League managers
- Luis Figo – Trebol FC
- TBJZL – VZN FC
- Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker, Micah Richards – Deportrio
- Sharky – SDS FC
- John Terry – 26ers
- Angry Ginge – Yanited
- Jens Lehmann, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg – N5 FC
- Miniminter – M7 FC
- Dave – Santan FC
- Clint 419 – FC Rules the World
- Ian Wright and Chloe Kelly – Wembley Rangers AFC
- Maya Jama and Alisha Lehmann – Team Name TBC
Former or current professional players:
- Ciaran Clark – Free agent, over 200 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa and Newcastle
- Adrian Mariappa – Wealdstone, over 150 Premier League appearances for Watford, Reading and Crystal Palace
- Cole Da Silva – Bishop’s Stortford, 20 appearances in u18 Premier League for Chelsea
- Luke Gambin – Free agent, over 150 appearances in League Two for Luton Town and Barnet
- Bilal Sayoud – Walthomstow, EFL Trophy winner with Coventry in 2016/17
- Diminic Vose – Free agent, 36 appearances in League One for Colchester and Scunthorpe
- Josh Harrop – Free agent, scored on Manchester United debut vs Crystal Palace, 83 Championship appearances for Preston.
- Michael Ndiweni – Newcastle Blue Star, one Premier League appearance for Newcastle United
- Michael Klass – Eastbourne Borough, 44 National League appearances for Aldershot Town and Bromley
Social Media entries:
- Percy Kiangebeni (aka PK Humble) – Hashtag United
- Montel McKenzie – Billericay Town and former Love Islander
- John Jancewicz – Free agent, formerly of Dagenham & Redbridge
- Harry Cain – Free agent, formerly of Altrincham with over one million TikTok followers
- Ergys Pepaj – Hertford Town, has over 1.5 million TikTok followers
- Luis Garcia – Free agent, over 100k followers on TikTok
- Declan McCarthy – Witham Town, over 1.8 million TikTok followers
- Jordan Perrin – Sevenoaks Town, over 250 appearances across step 2-5 of the Non-League pyramid
- Rico Zulkarnain – Free agent who has won seven futsal national titles in seven different countries
- Reggie Yembra – Under The Radar FC, over 38k followers on TikTok
Players invited to the draft by Baller League:
- Juan Pablo Gonzalez Velasco – Free agent, 8 appearances in u18 Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur
- Bryan Ly – Bury, 32 goals and 18 assists in step four last season
- Bruno Andrade – Bedford Town, 30 appearances in League One for Stevenage and Lincoln
- Charlie Wakefield – Free agent, two time UEFA Youth League champions with Chelsea u19
- James Caton – Free agent, 56 appearances for Wrexham and Dover in the National League
- Jake Chambers Shaw – Mildenhall Town, got a draft ticket at the January London trials
- Lorenzo Kevin Spinelli – Trafford FC, got a direct ticket to the draft at January London trials
When does Baller League start and what are the rules?
- The Baller League draft takes place at 6.30pm on Monday, March 10.
- SunSport will blog the draft as it happens.
- The action starts on Monday, March 24 and will be aired in the UK on Sky Sports.
- It will also be live streamed on YouTube and Twitch.
- Matches are six-a-side on a small indoor pitch – each match lasts 30 minutes, with two 15 minute halves.
- There are certain rule changes with the final three minutes of matches going to 3vs3, long-range goals counting as double and goalkeepers not allowed to use hands.
- Hockey-style penalties – with players running one-on-one – will be used
- 12 teams are in the competition, with six matches weekly.
- Four teams then heaf to a grand final.
- Baller League starts on Monday, March 24, with the play-offs in May.
- SunSport will live blog matches every week.
