ISL bid update: EB, MB reserve judgement as West Bengal chief minister enters the arena

BOTH EAST BENGAL AND Mohun Bagan appear to be tight-lipped about what transpired at their meeting with AIFF earlier today.

So much so that Mohun Bagan's pre-announced press conference where club president Tutu Basu had promised to "sing all the songs" about the club's approach towards ISL, has been postponed.

In New Delhi, club representatives met AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das as well as Sundar Raman, both of whom have spoken in favour of IMG-Reliance's perspective on running the Indian football league system and the terms and conditions they imposed on clubs who wish to become ISL franchises. East Bengal and Mohun Bagan have been trying to convince AIFF and IMG-R to waive their Rs 15 crore franchise fee and let them play from Kolkata which is their home city.

While IMG-Reliance has maintained that they will not relax any of their rules for East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, negotiations have gone on to get them on board to ISL. And today's meeting seems to have given them enough reason to ponder that they have decided not to make any public comments before tomorrow.

The two clubs will hold their executive meetings tomorrow, which is Tuesday. On the same day the club officials will sit with chief minister Mamata Banerjee as well as Mohammedan Sporting club officials. They are expected to speak to reporters after that and clarify their stance on whether they will play in ISL or stay in I-League.

The clubs will have till Wednesday to submit their bid.

Before the meeting, the game of political pressure behind the scenes had already begun. As TFG predicted, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee became a vocal participant when she told Ananda Bazar Patrika that she wanted East Bengal and Mohun Bagan to play in ISL and from Kolkata. Backing the clubs' demands she said,

"I'll make sure they get to play every match in Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium. The stadium belongs to the state government, not ISL."

It's yet unclear whether this political pressure has had any effect on IMG-R's intentions to honour Atletico de Kolkata's claims of exclusivity over the city. 

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