Salaries paid, East Bengal footballers in practice; why there is a problem despite having money in the fund, Debabrata Sarkar explained
Ahead of the match, coach Habas and the players suddenly boycotted practice on Thursday. This issue arose because they had not received their salaries.
Photo Courtesy - East Bengal Club
XtraTime Web Desk: East Bengal faced a sudden crisis just as they were about to get ready for the beginning of their ISL campaign this Sunday. Ahead of the match, coach Habas and the players suddenly boycotted practice on Thursday. This issue arose because they had not received their salaries. They arrived at the field for practice but refused to train until they were paid. As a result, East Bengal is plagued by an unwanted crisis.
However, the salaries were cleared later today, and the players returned to practice. For now, the issue has been resolved.
Club sources revealed that despite having 3 crore 89 lakh rupees in the bank account, regular salaries could not be paid due to certain technical issues.
Senior club official Debabrata Sarkar admitted that such a problem had indeed arisen, but he also expressed optimism that it would be resolved very quickly.
Debabrata explained, "It is true that despite having money in the account, the players cannot be paid. There are certain complications according to the country's constitution and the Company Act. We have to comply with those. Since our 'divorce period' (separation process) is ongoing, this issue has surfaced. It will take 2-3 months to fix this completely. Still, the club and Emami were trying to resolve the issue by providing some funds. Everyone should understand why the money cannot be spent despite being available in the fund."
He further added, "East Bengal Club never looks at the footballers as employees. It considers them part of a larger family. But when such incidents happen, the employee-employer relationship becomes the dominant one. We don't mind that. We just have to abide by our country's constitution and the Company Act. It might take a few days, but the problem will be resolved soon. Now it is up to them to decide what they want to do!"
Everything seems fine now, but there is no doubt that this is a massive blow at a time when the team is playing well, is in good rhythm, and the fans are dreaming of winning the ISL once again with their favorite team.
