WITH THE DOMESTIC LEAGUE SYSTEM set to be restructured next season, FSDL (Football Sports Development Limited) is expected to issue an invitation for bids for new teams in the Indian Super League, the future top division league in Indian football.
There are multiple parties interested in an ISL entry, but among the most talked about are East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, the two existing top division clubs from Kolkata.
East Bengal, under new management post their mega investment deal with Quess Corp, are almost certain to bid for an ISL entry. However, their arch rivals Mohun Bagan are living a very different reality.
The Mariners have been looking for a major investors for almost two years now, aware that they would have to go the corporate way to raise the money for an ISL entry in the near future. But they ran into multiple hurdles including internal structural issues and conflicts among the officials themselves. This culminated in a highly adversarial club election, in which the faction led by Tutu Basu and his son Srinjoy Basu took full control of the club. One of their major promises was to play in ISL when it gets appointed as the new top league of the country.
But despite talking to multiple potential investors, they were unable to close any deal; and at this point, according to reports, FSDL suggested a solution: rather than signing a new investor and entering the ISL through the bidding process, Mohun Bagan could tie up with Sanjeev Goenka, who owns the ISL franchise ATK, and gain a direct entry.
The talks between the Goenka group and Mohun Bagan officials went further ahead than any other deal the Mariners had pursued until that point, and at one point it was reportedly days away from being signed. But the talks hit a sudden impasse.
What problems the deal ran into is not fully clear since the negotiations are confidential; only bits and pieces of information has leaked out to different media outlets. According to sources on the Mohun Bagan side of the talks, the club could not accept the terms that Goenka was offering. The Bagan officials were ready to give away majority shares of the football team to Goenka but wanted to keep a controlling share (More than 25%) but the Goenka group did not agree to that. The initial offer, according to claims, was less than 10% which was increased later but still fell short of the required margin of 26% that would allow them to still have a say in matters of how the club is run.
There were other terms in the deal too that the MB officials found disagreeable; some even called those conditions "insulting." These included the name of the team, which the Goenka group insisted should be 'ATK Mohun Bagan' or 'Mohun Bagan ATK.' The club's home jersey would be the traditional green and maroon, but the away colours would be red and white, the colours associated with ATK.
This demand of co-branding, along with the Goenka group seeking unilateral control over the team, led to concerns that they might go on to disemphasize the Mohun Bagan brand in the team's attire and emblem and highlight the ATK brand, which would cause serious damage to the Mohun Bagan brand name, which the club has built up over a century.
The Mohun Bagan fanbase, which has held a negative opinion about ATK ever since owner Sanjeev Goenka made controversial comments claiming exclusivity over the city of Kolkata, are also likely to react harshly to such an attempt to dilute the identity of the club. The fans have been warmly receptive of corporate partners in the past, but are not in favour of their club's name being associated with the name of another football team; one that they have come to hate. Being elected officials of a member-owned club, the Mohun Bagan representatives felt it was not a risk they could take.
From the other side of the negotiations, however, counter-claims have emerged that Mohun Bagan officials went back on their own words multiple times; shifting the goalposts of their demands on many occasions which caused the negotiations to hit roadblocks many times.
At this highly sensitive point, a new player emerged. A major national level banking organization became involved in discussions to become the investors of Mohun Bagan. The officials found this to be a much better prospect than the tie-up with the Goenka group, and all but abandoned the previous negotiations. But about a month back, talks with this new potential investor broke down, and the exact reason remains a mystery. A source close to the club has claimed to TFG that they suspect external pressure was applied to make the investors back out by "powerful people who believe that ATK will not survive if they have to play in the same league as East Bengal and Mohun Bagan."
With the talks with the Goenka Group at an impasse and the other potential investor out of the picture, Mohun Bagan officials have arrived at a dangerous crossroads: unless they manage to secure investment in the coming weeks, they will risk being forcefully relegated to second tier next season.
Sensing a crisis impending, the officials along with some East Bengal counterparts approached the West Bengal Chief Minister seeking her to intervene on their behalf and help get them a cheaper entry into ISL. But that attempt went nowhere.
The Mohun Bagan fans, who are in favour of a corporate takeover, have been putting tremendous pressure on the officials in recent days. The fans have organized protests against the officials under the 'Hok Protibad' platform demanding that a corporate investor be brought in. They requested more transparency about the negotiations with investors, which was the officials refused to provide; leading to a fast worsening relationship between the two. Things hit a boiling point when multiple banners brought by MB fans were blocked from entering the stadium by the police (acting on the officials' request) at the last Kolkata Derby. This led to more than a hundred fan groups suspending operations in protest against club officials.
Subsequent meetings between fans and officials have been heated encounters. Some fans have even claimed that officials hired bouncers to harrass fans in the club premises.
Overall, the pressure is increasing on Mohun Bagan officials from all sides. Time is running out for them to sign an investor, which if they fail to do, there is a danger of forceful relegation. They can avoid that if they accept the deal with Goenka Group but that contains a huge risk of the Mohun Bagan brand being heavily damaged. And the fans are at their wits' end, having waited for years for their club to sign a corporate investor.
Unless things change in the near future, there is a real possibility that East Bengal and Mohun Bagan might play in different leagues next season. The Kolkata Derby, the biggest and most popular fixture in Indian football, may find itself limited to Calcutta Football League and Super Cup.