Internet Desk: Kolkata heavyweights Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have taken the oath to send a strong message to The ISL by showing the strength of their fans on the field in the forthcoming I-League.
For the first time in Indian football there will be two parrallel official leagues in the upcoming season with the AIFF striking out a new experimental formula to deal with the ISL and I-League rift.
India’s two premier football clubs, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, were denied participation in the IMG-Reliance-run ISL as the Big Two went against franchisee fees among other things.
Running parallel with the lucrative ISL, I-League may lose its sheen but Mohun Bagan and East Bengal today said they would stand the test of time and they found support from AIFF vice-president Subrata Dutta.
“We have agreed in totality that if we have to show our strength, we will do it on the field,” Debasish Dutta Mohun Bagan finance secretary said sitting alongside East Bengal assistant secretary Dr Shanti Ranjan Dasgupta in a panel discussion at the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club.
“We request all our fans to fill in the ground in such a way the stands are packed and there’s 5000 more outside. And no tickets will be free. We want to show our strength.”
“At the same time we won’t ask them (fans) to not go to ISL. They are free to support ISL but our request is to show our strength for each of our matches in the I-League.”
He went on to draw a parallel with their epic 1911 IFA Shield triumph over British team of East Yorkshire Regiment that played a role in country’s Independence movement.
“History says we have won bigger battles that too in barefoot. Mohun Bagan and East Bengal are the clubs because of their fans, their performances on field.
“We have always been in top five of country’s league. We have seen many clubs — Dempo, Pune FC, Mahindra United to name a few — come and go but we are permanent. These eight (ISL) clubs are just three-year-olds,” Dutta said.
He also praised IMG-Reliance for choosing to develop the financially-stricken Indian football.
“We must thank them. They have chosen football over cricket. We must not forget that we could not participate in the World Cup due to lack of funds!”
Blaming the AIFF, he said: “They should have shown them the right path — of reviving the I-League instead of creating a new league (ISL).”
AIFF vice-president Subrata Dutta came out on support of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal and said it’s about the interest of Indian football.
“They are not opposing ISL but it’s a battle between ISL versus I-League. We must not forget we are talking about one club (Mohun Bagan) who are 128-years-old and another (East Bengal) of 97.”
“ISL would not have been born without I-League. By not including Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, it’s not being fair to them.
“Their annual budget is worth around Rs 15-17 crores and to expect them to pay a franchisee fee of Rs 15 crore is not fair. Even the companies do not double their turnover in one year. They (AIFF and IMG-Reliance) should have been more flexible,” Dutta, who is also the president of state football body Indian Football Association, said.
“Football is club-based. The more we develop players and infrastructure, the better it would be for the country.
Questioning the fan-base of the ISL clubs, he said: “I doubt whether the clubs even have a signboard. They are mostly run by corporates with only interest to make business and not players development.”
“The century-old clubs have done sacrifice for clubs who are three years old. The future is tense for Indian football, he concluded.