#RemoveATK trends again as tension between Mohun Bagan fans and management flares up
DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN the Mohun Bagan fans and their football team's management continues to flare up on social media, even a year after their re-branded team was unveiled.
Over the past few days, Mariners have been vocal on social media with the demand to remove the 'ATK' prefix from the team, which is using the brand name ATK Mohun Bagan FC.
Although initially the Mohun Bagan fans welcomed the new investors, things turned sour when its branding strategy was perceived by the fans as disrespectful to the history and identity of Mohun Bagan. Initially ATK Mohun Bagan FC were touted as the "defending champions of ISL," with the team wearing 3 stars in the sleeve signifying the 3 ISL playoff wins of ATK FC.
As per my knowledge this is the first season for ATK Mohun Bagan FC in ISL. Then why you are using 3 stars and "Champion 2019-20" in practice kit?? Mariners don't want trophies of a dissolved club named ATK. @RP_SanjivGoenka @bosesrinjoy @Mohun_Bagan @IMGReliance @IndSuperLeague
— Debasis Sarkar (@Debasismariner) October 28, 2020
This led to the first major spell of fan protest, mostly online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The hashtag '#RemoveATK' trended nationwide and many planned activities and celebrations around Mohun Bagan's ISL matches, including a fan-organized large scale multi-city screening in USA and Canada, were cancelled. A number of fan groups theatened to boycott the team. This led to the management backtracking on their branding strategy. The 3 stars were removed and a controversial ad was edited down. The team was henceforth officially referred to as an ISL debutant, not the defending champion, making it clear that ATK FC's records did not apply to this team.
The fan protests died down at this point and the team received widespread support. But the tensions flared again when the management decided to reveal a third kit in the middle of the season (That was kept secret unlike the home and away kits) which looked identical to ATK FC's third kit from 2019-20. The protests began anew and this time there were real world demonstrations. A group of fans held a protest in front of the Mohun Bagan club gate as well as the CESC House where principal investor Dr Sanjiv Goenka's office is situated (On a Sunday afternoon to avoid disruption of work).
Posters demanding the removal of the ATK prefix were plastered across Kolkata. The wave of protests culminated on the day of Mohun Bagan's Annual General Meeting where senior club officials, amidst protests and sloganeering, clarified that the team was a continuation of Mohun Bagan and the presence of 'ATK' in the team's name was a brand prefix. This led to the protests subsiding for the rest of the season.
But now tensions have flared again due to the launch of a new website which tries to insert ATK's history into the team, to the point where Mohun Bagan legends like Sailan Manna and Gostha Pal were placed next to players who spent 3-4 months at ATK FC like Fikru Teferra and Helder Postiga. The Mohun Bagan fans saw this as an insult to their legends and made their voices heard online. The '#RemoveATK' hashtag once again trended, this time just hours after the management announced a major signing that they had expected to result in a good response from the supporters.
Power of Mariners. Organic Trending of #RemoveATK. Now on top in Sports Category.
— The Mariners' (@MohunBaganFans) June 24, 2021
So, Respect the emotion. It is a blast of emotion. Consider that. #JoyMohunBagan pic.twitter.com/XRnYvS0h5p
Mohunbagan is supported by the emotions of the supporters not by corporate tyranny.
— Mariners' Base Camp - Girls' Wing (@MbcGirlsWing) June 23, 2021
We cannot be consoled by bringing good players from Euro!
We will keep protesting until the virus 'ATK' is removed.#RemoveATK#TheResistance pic.twitter.com/K3O3mxQejj
As a result of this the site went offline and was lated re-published following some edits. This time, the Mohun Bagan legends and ATK FC notable players were kept in two separate lists. The Mohun Bagan fans, however, still appear to be not satisfied and have been vocal about factual inconsistencies and apparent errors still present on the website.
New drama. Umapati Kumar's picture is that of Dr Sanmatha Dutta. Gostha Pal's picture is still that of PK. Your admins are completely useless @atkmohunbaganfc, fire the entire lot. Why even put ATK players there? #RemoveATK pic.twitter.com/4NMu4PmXtD
— Mumbai Pune Mariners (@MumPuneMariners) June 27, 2021
FYI #ATKMohunbagan Officials , the AFC Cup Slot was earned by us after We won the I League and not because we Merged with you guys. You guys have to pay the Price for such Idiotic Brandings to promote your dead " ATK ". #RemoveATK pic.twitter.com/R6i3LKNfOg
— Baidyabati Sheoraphuli-r Rong Sobuj Meroon ?????? (@bsrsm2006) June 27, 2021
@DattaNilanjan @MarcusMergulhao @IndSuperLeague @NovyKapadia acording to @atkmohunbaganfc this is Gostha Pal , do you guys too think alike ? @bosesrinjoy @Mohun_Bagan @Debashi03455898 do you guys still remeber our club legends or u too forget about them ? pic.twitter.com/M8qwuJCF3j
— Mariners' Base Camp - Ultras Mohun Bagan (@MbcOfficial) June 28, 2021
It does appear that the ATK Mohun Bagan FC management has adopted a strategy of modifying its official narrative to fit the fans' demand every time there's a wave of protest and hope for that to calm things down, but at this point it has become a cyclical sequence of errors followed by protests followed by half-hearted retractions that are not really helping to better the relationship between the fans and the management.
