ISL champions Atletico de KOlkata get rousing reception at airport
Kolkata: Atletico de Kolkata co-owner Sanjiv Goenka sparked a controversy with his comments on Monday. Mr Goenka in a felicitation ceremony arranged for the victorious Atletico footballers in a shopping mall said that his Indian Super League (ISL) franchise is more popular than any other team in the city.
The India RojiBlancos won the title for the second time in three years beating Kerala Blasters on penalties in Kochi on Sunday.
“Have you ever seen such frenzy? ATK is probably much more popular than any other team in Kolkata, Goenka told reporters at a city shopping mall where the side brought the trophy.
“Every city has one team then why should Kolkata have two teams?,” questioned Goenka who has always publicly opposed the proposed merger of the ISL and I-League.
Asked whether he has any fear if the more traditional outfits East Bengal and Mohun Bagan come in the fray, Goenka showed a video of the fans celebrating in Kochi last night.
“I don’t have any fear. What will happen if two teams from Kolkata get to the final or one team makes it? Today Kolkata has won. The feeling won’t be the same.”
Goenka also has stakes in Indian Premier League franchise Rising Pune Supergiants. Asked about his preference, he said, “ISL has given us more success. IPL is more popular.”
The champion footballers of Atletico de Kolkata arrived in Kolkata amidst rousing reception at the airport. Hundreds of fans were waiting at the airport to take a glimpse of the victorious footballers. The fans were with their banners, flags and posters. A huge poster welcoming the champions were on display at the airport.
The Atletico de Kolkata footballers arrived from Mumbai in a Jet Airways flight 9W0623. The flight was delayed for 20 minutes. Marquee footballer Helder Postiga, Sameehg Doutie, Sereno and Nato left for home last night. But the other footballers accompanied by coach Jose Molina arrived in Kolkata on Monday evening.
Pritam Kotal was the first Atletico footballer to come out of the airport along with Abinash Ruidas and Prabir Das. Following them was Kingshuk Chakraborty and Pearso. Atletico coach Jose Molina spotted a bright smile as he came out of the airport. He was seen presented a bouquet and a huge card by one of the female fans of Kolkata. Canadian Iain Hume, who missed his shot in the tie-breakers, was spotted with an earphone. Hero of the tie-breaker Debjit Majumder received the loudest cheers from the fans. Javi Lara was seen capturing the fans celebration at the airport.
Meanwhile, Atletico de Kolkata’s co-owner Sourav Ganguly congratulated the players on the win yesterday night. According to Sourav, “It is an excellent feeling to win the trophy twice in three years. At one point of time, watching the sea of yellow in the stadium, I thought the match is lost. But the boys displayed great determination to come back and win the match.”
Atletico de Kolkata lifted its second ISL trophy in Kochi after winning the first one in Mumbai in the inaugural year. On being asked which win was more special, Sourav said, “Both the wins were special.”