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Mohun Bagan Press Release: Kolkata giant Mohun Bagan football club's Executive Committee has decided not to celebrate the Mohun Bagan Day by organising a physical programme. The day is celebrated for famous victory of 1911 IFA Shield win. The club has confirmed the news by sending a press release.

"For Mohun Bagan family the safety and security of our members and supporters is of utmost priority. The Executive Committee has further decided that Mohun Bagan Ratna and other awards would be conferred to continue with our legacy," the release said.

The Executive Committee has unanimously decided to confer the following awards on 29th July 2020 to the following persons:

Mohun Bagan Ratna

Shri Gurbux Singh (Hockey)
Shri Palash Nandi (Cricket)

Lifetime Achievement

1. Shri Ashok Kumar (Hockey)
2. Shri Pranab Ganguly (Football)
3. Shri Monoranjan Porel (Athletics)

Best Football Player (Senior)

Joseba Beitia

Best Youth Player

Sajal Bag ( U18 team)

Best Cricketer
Not applicable

"The awards would be presented personally to those persons who are available in Kolkata. The awardees who will be unable to receive the honour due to their unavailability in the city would be presented at a later stage when things would be normal," stated Mohun Bagan in the statement.

Mohun Bagan Finance Secretary Debashis Dutta looked unhappy as they can't celebrate 'Mohun Bagan Day' at the club premises.

"It's a sad thing that we can't celebrate 'Mohun Bagan Day' this year. We all now that Poila Boisakh and Mohun Bagan Day are very significant days for our supporters as on these two days we get to meet each other very closely at the club. But due to COVID-19 pandemic we know that, Tokyo Olympic has been postponed and that's why we are also postponing the celebration of Mohun Bagan Day as of now. If everything gets alright in near future we will celebrate the auspicious day at our club soon," said Dutta.

"We are pleased that the club is conferring Mohun Bagan Ratna to an athlete like Gurbox Singh who is a legend in Indian sports. On the other hand Palash Nandi is Mohun Bagan cricket's Subrata Bhattacharya and we are happy that he is getting the award. Ashok Kumar is getting the Lifetime Achievement award and I think he is the best hockey player in the history of Mohun Bagan. He is also the a player who won the World Cup for India. Everyone knows he loves Mohun Bagan the most," added Debashis Dutta.

On being asked why they have choosen Joseba Beitia as the player of the season though their were players like Papa Babakar Diwara, Debashis Datta said,"If we only talk about I-League then Papa was our stand out footballer but Betia was the most consistent player for Mohun Bagan throughout the season.We have played in Bangladesh, Durand Cup, Calcutta Football League and he was the most versatile and impactful footballer there.