Kolkata: The entire city of Kolkata is now gearing up for the final of the FIFA U17 World Cup on Saturday. The AIFF President Praful Patel is now at Kolkata as well for the historic event. The Kolkata Giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan officials meanwhile grabbed the opportunity to meet the AIFF President and I-League CEO Sunanda Dhar today to discuss about the probable fixture and their thoughts on the date and time.
Mohun Bagan Finance Secretary Mr Debasish Dutta and East Bengal official Mr Debabrata Sarkar represented the two clubs in the meeting and seemed extremely pleased to have the meeting.
Mohun Bagan official stated, “We are very satisfied about the meeting and approach by Mr Praful Patel. He was very positive about I-League, especially about East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.”
On the flip side the East Bengal official said, “We had a discussion. We expressed our views regarding the fixture, date and time of the I-League. He promised us to revert the matter.”
Debabrata Sarkar also mentioned, “We also told him why should we go and join the ISL? When it is the no.1 league in India, the ISL teams should come and join us. East Bengal and Mohun Bagan have nothing new to prove in Indian football. Those who are franchise teams, will pay the franchise fee to play, not us.”
The AIFF President though have told the two clubs that they would certainly discuss the matter with FSDL and the TV broadcaster and will definitely look into that matter with a lot of interest.