MUMBAI: After months of making one far-fetched claim after another, the time of reckoning is at hand for the men who matter at East Bengal FC.
The Red & Gold Brigade will have to officially declare their change of ownership as the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Tuesday sent out the club licensing agreements to all Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League clubs as part of the AFC protocols.
All clubs, including East Bengal, have to sign the agreement and send it back to AIFF in the next 10 days to be part of the 2020-2021 licensing criteria, failing which will rule them out of all AIFF competitions, IANS reports.
East Bengal acrimoniously terminated their tie-up with Quess Corp, who held a 70% per cent stake in the TEAM and NOT the CLUB. They had a three-year deal but the Bengaluru-based investors exited on May 31 after serving due notice.
Since then, other than regular statements, nothing concrete has come from the club’s officials despite the AIFF having asked them to inform the club’s status and change of ownership structure more than a month ago.
Nothing exemplifies the warped priorities of the old guard at the storied club than comment’s made by senior official Debabrata Sarkar hours after the merged ATK Mohun Bagan’s first board meeting on Saturday. “We are going to be there in the ISL for sure, I can say you this much,” Sarkar told PTI from Kolkata.
While East Bengal’s top brass were making grandiose statements, Quess chairman Ajit Isaac, in a letter to AIFF recently, had stated that till the ownership matters were fully resolved all communication should be made through them. To acquire the AFC Club licensing for the 2020-21 season, East Bengal has to submit a valid declaration to the AIFF, outlining the ownership, IANS further reports.
“The licensing agreements have been sent to all ISL and I-League clubs as per protocol. They will have to sign it and send it back to AIFF in the next 10 days to be part of the club licensing criteria. Failing this would rule any club out of AIFF competitions,” a top source close to the development told IANS on condition of anonymity.
The club licensing agreement, therefore, has been sent to ‘Quess East Bengal’ as per official communication since the AIFF has not been informed of any change of ownership.
“They have not informed anything about change of ownership to AIFF. So it will go as per the club registered with them and send all official communication to Quess only,” the source added.
Meanwhile, according to the newswire, Quess is waiting for a response from East Bengal after sending it a draft of agreement in terms of its conclusion while keeping options of selling the company’s equities to a third party, if there is such a need.
The Red and Golds have, as per IANS’s sources, signed the proposed draft of termination and sent it back to Quess for further formalities.
Therefore, it is expected that East Bengal will get back the sporting rights in football-related affairs.
And even as that is awaited, AIFF general secretary Kushal Das offered a dose of reality for the club’s mandarins: “If they (East Bengal) come in ISL they must come in with a long-term vision and with a proper structure. It took six months for Mohun Bagan and ATK to finalise the deal. It is better to wait for a year. Because the heavens are not going to fall if they play in ISL from next year. They still have an issue with their old partner (Quess Corp),” stated Das during a webinar organised by West Bengal Chamber of Commerce on Indian football.
When queried if there is a certain deadline for East Bengal to adhere to he replied, “Club licensing starts on July 15. If a new entity comes in then they have to get a lot of NOCs (No Objection Certificates). And this they should get from AFC (Asian Football Confederation). AIFF has nothing to do with it.”
For East Bengal, the priority once it gets back the sporting rights in football-related affairs, will be to find financiers / investors to take the club’s fortunes into a future that goes above beyond tall claims.
