Heard on the Stands: Suspended FC Goa co-owners sell their stakes for Rs 75 crore
FRESH RUMOURS doing the rounds in the Indian football circuit suggest that FC Goa co-owners Srinivas Dempo and Dattaraj Salgaocar have sold their stakes in the ISL franchise for Rs 75 crore.
FC Goa have been at the centre of a raging controversy ever since the messy incidents following the ISL final last year, and the ISL Regulatory Committee imposed a Rs 11 crore fine on them, apart from a 15 point deduction from their upcoming ISL 2016 campaign. Mr Dempo and Mr Salgaocar also received lengthy suspensions from all ISL-related events.
The duo reportedly sold their stakes in FC Goa - 65% in total - so that FC Goa don't have to pay the price of their actions, and the appeals committee is convinced to spare them the points deduction.
The final verdict of the one-member appeals committee will be out tomorrow. But it will be significant if Mr Dempo, who is an AIFF Vice President and owns Dempo SC - a major club in Indian top division for decades (which incidentally is also rumoured to be withdrawing from the I-League) steps aside from his ISL commitments.
On the Rs 75 crore purchase of the stakes puts a healthy valuation of around Rs 115 crore on the franchise, which will make its other co-owners Videocon Group and cricketer Virat Kohli quite happy.
