KOLKATA: Fairfax-backed Quess Corp, India’s largest private employer, Sunday officially ended its “troubled from day one” engagement as principle investor in Kolkata’s storied football club East Bengal FC.
It was in July 2018 that the Bengaluru-based company had signed an agreement with the Red-and-Gold Brigade, leading to the formation of a new entity called Quess East Bengal FC Pvt. Ltd (QEBFC). As per the agreement, Quess acquired a 70% stake in the football team (emphasis ours) and NOT the club itself.
Quess has now transferred back to the club all sporting rights, including the team’s right to participate in the I-League, and is working on the legal documentation for the same.
As a Quess official told Telegraph India: “We have no intention to drag it. The rights of the football team would be transferred to East Bengal as early as possible. The two parties are working on it and we are confident there will not be any problem. We will ensure that Quess has no liability on that front.”
The 100-year-old club will now have to officially inform the club’s status and change of ownership structure to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to clear AFC’s club licensing criteria after having separated from Quess Corp.
“We have asked them to officially tell us about the change in ownership. This is in line with the (AFC club) licensing requirements,” a top AIFF official told IANS on Monday.
The legal criteria for a club to apply for the AFC license says that the license applicant will have to submit a legally valid declaration, clearly stating the ownership structure and control mechanism of the club.
Now that the deed is done, SportzPower is curious to know what will finally come of the “news” that has been emanating from club officials over the last two months regarding investors who were supposedly “waiting in the wings”. To put it bluntly, this website remains sceptical of ANY of the said reports finally translating into reality.
