MUMBAI: Even as the Bengali sports media fraternity continue to talk up East Bengal FC’s next-to-nonexistent chances of being a part of the Indian Super League in the upcoming season, Football Sports Development Limited, which runs the ISL, has made clear in a meeting with club representatives over the weekend that FSDL would be sticking to just 10 teams and would not be floating tenders for new outfits.
“East Bengal didn’t have a chance after April because it takes time with so much of legalities and other important things involved,” a source close to FSDL told PTI.
“From April till November they had more than six months but once they crossed that, there was no chance for East Bengal.”FSDL, which is keen to put out the ISL schedule for the 2021-22 season by August 31, has also assured the franchises that the event will take place in India.
“It is physically not possible to incorporate a new team this season because of the coronavirus-induced situation. The ISL will be played in one or two venues this year and the whole logistics will have to be taken into account,” an ISL stakeholder told India Express. “Keeping the (media) buzz about East Bengal’s impending arrival at arm’s length, there was never any plan to bring in an extra team this season,” he added.
East Bengal general secretary Kalyan Majumdar put it well when he told The Indian Express: “You have a right to dream, but not always will your dream come true. And if we look at the current situation, chances of organising any sport in our country this year appear bleak. Even the IPL is moving out to the UAE. So I’m not reading too much into all this. Also, I have my doubts if sponsors would be keen to invest if we play matches behind closed doors here like Europe. And I don’t know if we can emulate the European football leagues and create a bio-secure bubble here. Social realities are different.”
That was Majumdar on record. Another East Bengal official, however, sang a wholly different tune to PTI. Off record of course. “There was no official meeting. You can say these are all rumours. The door is still open for us, and we are in talks with a potential investor,” said official told the newswire.
Will Majumdar’s comments finally convince the Bengali sports media to get real and focus instead on what next for the club? Don’t hold your breath on that one.
