Kolkata: Mohun Bagan may symbolise a golden era for Indian football but, in their current condition, they are simply playing for time.
Almost a month after bringing home the coveted I-League trophy after a gap of 13 years, Mohun Bagan are beset by monetary issues and struggling to attract investors.
The club’s general secretary, Anjan Mitra, hopes the triumph will attract sponsors. Mitra, who has been associated with the club for a very long time and had earlier indicated that payments to some players were pending owing to a financial crisis, insisted that not much had changed.
“The financial crunch is still on. There’s a legal problem that is going on right now. We hope to settle this issue very soon and do something for the club. I hope this success [of winning the I-League] will attract sponsors too,” Mitra said in an interview.
Mitra again emphasised the need for steady sponsorship when asked about the immediate goals for the club, adding that it was impossible to carry on with the coffers empty.
“We have to solve this sponsorship problem quickly; the faster the merrier. And we have to settle on the team for the next season too, but you cannot go ahead with shortage of funds; so we have to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Mohun Bagan, along with arch-rivals East Bengal, are currently sponsored by the United Breweries group.
Mohun Bagan, formed in 1889, won their first major title in July 29, 1911, beating East Yorkshire Regiment 2-1 to claim the Indian Football Association (IFA) shield. The win aroused strong nationalistic sentiments given the push for freedom from British imperialist rule.
The club went on to become one of the dominant forces in Indian football, winning the national football league four times and a host of other major trophies.
But the financial crisis hangs heavy over the club’s glorious past and the promise of a bright future. The monetary woes apart, the I-League, the country’s premier football competition, faces an existential crisis from the lucrative Indian Super League (ISL).
With the prospect of the two leagues getting merged by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), traditional clubs like Mohun Bagan could run into bigger problems, Mitra admits.
“In Indian football, anything and everything is possible. Whatever the AIFF decides, we have to abide by it; we are neither in the committee nor in a position to comment on the issue. So we will just wait and watch what happens; there is nothing on our hands.”
Mitra also took a dig at the franchise-based clubs that are in vogue in the ISL, saying they lack stability and don’t offer a guaranteed future. “Professional clubs lack permanency. You see what happened with Mahindra United [the club closed down in 2010]. Today they might be here, but tomorrow they may not exist. But clubs like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal are public-oriented and will come through no matter what,” he said.
Mitra also insisted that Mohun Bagan had been spending a lot on their grassroots development programme, which would enable a steady flow of players into the senior team.
“Tell me which other club is spending like us,” he asked.
“We have a residential academy where 100 per cent placements are provided; we have developed the Under-14, -16 and -19 teams. We are working seriously to develop the grassroots, but when you talk of infrastructure, that cannot be changed in a day or two,” Mitra said.
