Debasis Sen, Sabyasachi Bagchi: Great news for Mohun Bagan fans worldwide as the centenary old club from Kolkata is all set to rope in a new investor. Amidst all the speculation for the last two months, the Kolkata giants will join hands with Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Atletico de Kolkata. The talks are in final stages between both the parties – i.e Mohun Bagan and ATK. It is learnt the formal announcement about the deal will be officially announced on January 15 or 16 where the details of the shares, representation in the Board of Directors, official name of the team, home and away jerseys will be made public.
The former I League winners were already in talks with Dubai based oil company Aramco and the deal was almost finalized but due to some reasons the talks fell apart due to some complications. IMG-R was playing a pivotal part in striking the deal between Aramco and Mohun Bagan. But due to some technical issues both the parties parted ways.
Two time ISL winners Atletico de Kolkata were also in talks with another Kolkata giant East Bengal but the discussion did not materialize due to issues related to using the club logo on the jerseys. Seizing this opportunity, the Bagan officials decided to re-start the talks with the Kolkata based franchise. FSDL played a huge part in finalizing the deal between ATK and Bagan. With this tie-up Mohun Bagan’s participation in ISL from next season is just a matter of time.
Now the big question, how did the tie-up made possible between Mohun Bagan and ATK. FSDL, the promoters of Indian Super League have been trying to get both the Kolkata giants to take part in the league. It is learnt from reliable sources that FSDL officials convinced ATK owner Sanjeev Goenka to sit down with Mohun Bagan officlas. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was has already been signed between the two parties. Sanjeev Goenka, Sourav Gnaguly and Utsav Parekh will be in the Board of Directors from ATK while from Swapan Sadhan Bose (Tutu Bose), Srinjoy Bose and Debashish Datta will represent Bagan. According to the tie-up 80% stake will be with ATK while Mohun Bagan will have 20% shares. The name of the new team is yet undecided whether it will be ATK-Mohun Bagan or Mohun Bagan-ATK.