Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee expressed her profound displeasure over Shree Cement cutting off ties with century-old East Bengal after a feud over the authority of sporting rights. Shree Cement, whose introduction last year saw the Red and Golds made their ISL debut, announced in an email about their decision to discontinue last week.
“I am no one to take any decision on East Bengal. The authorities who were there earlier have sent me a letter to inform me that they will not be able to continue with East Bengal at this very last moment. This is a bad attitude,” said Banerjee in a press conference at the state secretariat.
“They kept the club waiting for so many months and now at the last moment, they are saying they cannot do anything. We are all unhappy with this situation,” she added. Bannerjee, who was the main pioneer behind the instantaneous signing of the deal to get the Kolkata side into the ISL.
With an underwhelming season away, East Bengal secured the bottom spot and things got worse later when the investors demanded the signing of the final agreement that would see them with the sole authority over the sporting rights.
Earlier, East Bengal secretary Kalyan Majumdar had officially refused to sign the agreement to which the sponsors replied that they would only be transferring the sporting rights if all the Rs 55 crores invested in the club is returned.
However, after a period of suspenseful silence, Shree Cement on Monday released a final statement announcing calling off the agreement with the club. “They even met me on August 16 and told me that everything will be sorted. So suddenly what happened, that things changed? What is the mystery behind it?” Banerjee added.
“East Bengal have a great legacy. We all want Mohun Bagan and East Bengal to play in ISL. I am very happy that Mohun Bagan are playing and we all want East Bengal to play in the ISL too. We will also let them know that we are displeased with the situation and we will try to sort this. Time is very short, let’s see,” the CM said.
The Chief Minister deemed it necessary that the legacy of the club should be continued in ISL. She further assured that the whole fiasco will be solved much to the relief of the agitated fans and the players whose future is in a blur.
