CALCUTTA (India): Ahead of next week’s derby, Mohun Bagan seemed to stepping into a landmark deal with two-time Indian Super League (ISL) champions ATK.
There are speculations that the clubs have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with an official announcement to follow.
Currently, ATK are fighting to gain top spot in the ISL while the green and maroon side, who face Punjab FC tomorrow, are leading the I-League.
The Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which runs the ISL, were keen on including either Mohun Bagan and East Bengal in the tournament.
The franchise-based league, which has earned as country’s top league status, began running concurrently with the I-League in 2017-18.
Earlier, Bagan and East Bengal had refused to join the ISL as they refused to pay franchisee fee of INR 15 crore, and their unwillingness to give up rights to control names, logos, jerseys, and to move out of the city due to ISL’s prevalent one-club-per-city rule.
Bagan won the National Football League (NFL) in 1998, 2000 and 2002, and emerged winner in the rebranded I-League in 2015.
The high-profile has won a record 14 titles of the now-defunct Federation Cup.
The club currently lead the I-League table with 13 points from six matches with four wins, one draw and one loss.
Meanwhile, they will face their traditional rivals East Bengal in the derby on January 19. The match was scheduled for December, but was postponed due to the fragile political situation in the city.
