CALCUTTA (India): Mohun Bagan’s official merger with with Indian Super League (ISL) side ATK has not gone down well with the club’s fans and former footballers.
RPSG Group, which owns and runs professional ATK FC will acquire majority shareholding in Mohun Bagan Football Club (India) Private Limited.
The tie-up will see the two football clubs coming together into a new merged identity to compete in the rapidly growing professional Indian football landscape, ATK said in a press release on Thursday.
The new football club will have brand names of ATK and Mohun Bagan.
Merger threat to other top fan-based clubs: Subrata
Former stars and Bagan loyalists Subrata Bhattacharyaand Pradip Chowdhurywere seemed to be unhappy with the merger and felt that the club officials have sold the soul of the club to ATK.
“It was understood that no companies were eager to sponsor Bagan,” said Chowdhury, who was a vital cog in Bagan back-line alongside Subrata in the mid-70s.
RPSG Group will become 80 per cent majority shareholder alongside Mohun Bagan Football Club (India) Private Limited owning the remaining 20 per cent.
“I failed to understand why the club officials were creating a fuss on the ATK merger. If they had to do this, they could’ve done it earlier. There was no need to play hide and seek. The merger is a threat to other top fan-based clubs in the country,” said Subrata.
The merged club will come into existence from June 1, 2020, and will compete in Indian Super League season 2020-21, along with other important competitions of the All India Football Federation calendar.
But former Bagan captain Victor Amalraj welcomed the amalgamation.
“It’s a good news that Mohun Bagan will play in ISL. The club has to align with new system,” Amalraj told Khel Updates from Hyderabad.
It was also announced that the club will continue to get discounted tickets for all home matches.
“To usher into the new era of football, you need bigger investments and a corporate force to take it forward. This is undoubtedly a harsh and the bigger truth,” said Mohun Bagan Club chairman Swapan Sadhan Bose.
“Looks like a 100 year old club has finally being killed, in exchange ATK is trying to get their fans,” football fan Rahul Das Saxena wrote on the Indian football group FB timeline.
