Baichung Bhutia makes a U-turn, advocates inclusion of East Bengal & Mohun Bagan in ISL

IN A MASSIVE U-turn from his previously held position, former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia has spoken out in favour of including East Bengal and Mohun Bagan in the Indian Super League once its is made the top division league of Indian football next year.

In the past, Bhutia has time and again given statements saying I-League and ISL should not be merged. He was of the opinion that the existing top division league and the gala private tournament should remain as they are, running in parallel with the ISL teams not facing any requirement to fulfil club licensing criteria and able to pick players out of I-League clubs to make their teams for 3 months of operation.

But he recently started pivoting from that opinion, and now has spoken in favour of allowing the iconic Kolkata clubs to play in the ISL, something Atletico de Kolkata, the current ISL franchise from the city, are vehemently opposed to. 

Bhaichung argued that ISL will benefit a lot by tapping into the popularity of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, and the blockbuster Kolkata Derby fixture played between them; which draws one of the largest crowds in the world. To most of the AIFF and IMG-Reliance officials, this is a no-brainer, but ATK's reluctance to directly compete with EB & MB in a fear of losing out on their fanbase has muddied the waters.

The legendary striker who spent much of his club career in Kolkata at East Bengal and Mohun Bagan was until recently working with ATK as an advisor and played an active role in picking out domestic players for them. But he was not retained in that position as the franchise went about making their team ahead of this year's ISL. Perhaps co-incidentally, Bhutia has since shifted from his original opinion to one that goes against the agenda being pushed by ATK.