Subrata Dutta to speak to FDSL to discuss East Bengal and Mohun Bagan proposals

IN ANOTHER ROUND OF MERGER TALKS being floated, Bengal's Indian Football Association (IFA) president Subrata Dutta will meet the organisers of the Indian Super League (ISL) Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) to discuss further on the demands of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal on the proposals of both parties.
It is said the new merged league that will be called the Indian Super League is said to have a cap of 10 teams

But for that to happen, FSDL -- a joint venture between IMG-Reliance and Star India -- offered licensing agreement, it was learnt, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal grants the FSDL the right to produce and sell goods, apply a brand name or trademark, or use patented technology owned by the licensor.

For royalty payment, the clubs need to come to an agreement on sharing rights that will give a certain authority to the sponsor over the club. 

Dutta, who is also All India Football Federation (AIFF) senior vice-president, told IANS,

"The clubs would never agree to give the rights to sub license, transfer or assign to the licensee. They would also object on modifying the club's name, logo or colour,"

The agreement that both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are looking for is to be an equal rights to both the club and the sponsor, just the same way United Breweries, the current sponsor, has with East Bengal.
Bagan issued a statement saying,

"We had also approached IMG-R (FSDL) and various rounds of discussions had taken place. The prospect of playing in ISL was also discussed. IMG R (FSDL) had also come up with lot of options and ideas," 

Mohun Bagan made it clear that it had no intention of letting anyone getting to change the traditional clubs logo and colours and said,

"During all levels of discussion we had always said amongst various other things, the Logo, Jersey colours and most importantly the name of our beloved club cannot be changed at any cost."

Bagan did not find any of the points discussed in the talks held with the FDSL authorities,

"But to our surprise when we received the Draft agreement, none of the points was incorporated or mentioned. But we still believe that all disputes can be resolved through meaningful dialogue and discussions."

Both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are frantically looking for sponsors to enter the newly proposed 10-team football league comprising the Indian Super League (ISL) franchises and I-League clubs.

It is imperative that all matters are sorted and agreed upon to get the new league kick-off in time for the new season. Most player-contracts would expire within two months time and so the authorities must ensure that they give enough time to players, clubs and franchise to prepare well for a renewed start next season.

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