KOLKATA: Third time lucky? East Bengal FC’s long suffering fans would certainly be hoping so. The storied football club Tuesday completed the formalities of entering into a joint venture investment agreement with Kolkata-based multinational conglomerate Emami Group, forming a new company – Emami East Bengal FC Private Limited.
In the newly formed entity, Emami Group holds a 77 per cent controlling share while East Bengal hold the remaining 23 per cent.
The team would play as ‘East Bengal FC’, informed Emami Group director Aditya Agarwal.
“It’s a great honour to join hands with East Bengal. We (Emami Group) are based in Kolkata.
“I would say two giants of the city are joining hands and I am sure and confident that this will be a huge success. The team will play as East Bengal FC and we are looking forward to getting good results,” Agarwal said.
“We have been waiting for this day. Today Emami and East Bengal are starting a new journey… East Bengal Club is not just a football club, it’s Bengalis’ emotions, Bengalis’ traditions… Emami was born in Bengal. We understand the emotions because we grew up here… I feel proud to partner with that tradition… we need some time to build a good, strong team, but we will do it.”
Agarwal’s confidence is certainly welcome but belies the recent history of corporate engagement with the footballing institution that entered its 100th establishment year on 1 August 2019.
Emami’s investment in East Bengal comes after two failed attempts, first by Bengaluru-based Quess Corp in July 2018 that ended acrimoniously within two years (July 2020). Then came Kolkota-based Shree Cement Ltd (SCL), which entered into a partnership agreement in September 2020 with equally disastrous results. The cements major returned the sporting rights to the parent club after less than two years; April to be precise.
SCL’s decision to exit the partnership came as a consequence of the club officials refusing to sign the binding or final agreement.
The Fan Garage reports that the Emami-East Bengal deal has more promising terms. Unlike Quess & SCL deals, this one only concerns the club’s football teams. The East Bengal cricket, hockey and athletic teams will still be operated by the club’s member-elected officials. Also, unlike the SCL deal, this agreement excludes any properties owned by the East Bengal Club; which means the club’s elected officials will retain full control over the East Bengal Ground, club tent and other assets that belong to the 102-year-old club.
Emami will provide the budget for the team to play in the Indian Super League and other competitions; and retain whatever revenue comes from operating the team.
“Our first priority is to have a strong team for the Indian Super League (ISL) and all the other tournaments, that is our main focus at this point in time,” Agarwal added.
“It has been a good start for us. We have appointed Stephen Constantine as our head coach. He has experience in Indian football. I am sure we will make a good team and hope we get success.”
Manish Goenka, another director with Emami, said: “Our aim is to support football. We not only promote the club, but also encourage young players to take up the game as a career, so that Bengal can produce world class football players.”
The Durand Cup would be the first tournament of the season for East Bengal FC.
Debabrata Sarkar, senior club official and face of the old guard, said the team will start practising from this week itself. “We are very happy with our partnership with the Emami Group. We have had only three-four meetings before everything got finalised. We have already started the team-building process. Our reserve team coach, Bino George, is here with us and the team will start pre-season within this week,” Telegraph India quoted Sarkar as having said.
“We hope our head coach Stephen will get his visa on Wednesday and he will join the team as early as possible. He has given us names of a few players and we are trying to bring them on board. Stephen will take the final call about the foreign players as well.”
The transfer window ends on August 31.
