Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
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Kolkata giants East Bengal Club and Mohun Bagan AC for the moment are not part of the expanded 10 team Indian Super League and will ply their trade in the I-League, while their toughest rivals in recent years in Bengaluru FC make the switch from I-League to Indian Super League.
I therefore ask the question, did East Bengal & Mohun Bagan overplay their cards in ISL / I-League merger?
And I fear the answer is a big YES, then if you see the discussion, negotiations, etc; then one could get the feeling and impression that Indian football starts and ends with these two historic clubs, which in a country the size of India is just not the case. Period.
Sadly I have to say as a Bengali, these clubs and their parent body Indian Football Association (West Bengal) besides some sections of the Bengali media have not realised that over the last two decades there have been numerous developments in Indian club football, the formation of the Indian Super League is just one of many.
Surely there is a need and importance of having these two clubs, but if one sees the state of another Kolkata giant in Mohammedan Sporting Club, who when the National Football League started in 1996 were part of the plans, but have never been able to maintain their top tier status on the football field in the NFL/I-League for more than a year, then I fear East Bengal and Mohun Bagan could face a similar fate in the years to come as Indian club football is constantly moving ahead.
Again I want to reiterate that the contribution of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan to Indian football is unparalleled, but especially the success of Bengaluru FC and what they have created in assets and structure in the last four years is impressive. The list could go on with Aizawl FC, Shillong Lajong FC, NEROCA FC, etc…
I my conversations in Indian football the rest of India is fully feed up of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan asking for a different treatment due to their history and heritage, which thereby has delayed a final structure for Indian club football and enhanced the chaos.
A club official of a rival I-League club, who did not want to be named, but still asked me to to write the following, “We also do our best to play in the I-League. Surely we do not have the history and standings of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, but we contribute whatever we can to Indian football. Doesn’t that also deserve credit? Why don’t these clubs fight for the I-League and Indian football with us?”
A very good question and a summery of the feeling within the I-League about the Kolkata Big Two, who in their fight to play top tier football in the Indian Super League have forgotten about their I-League rivals, who they are likely to continue to face in the upcoming season.
A united front of the clubs might have given them more leverage. Now one knows, IMG-Reliance dealt with Bengaluru FC directly, asked the AIFF to handle East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, while I-League champions Aizawl FC were left to the side like the other teams.
The pressure that East Bengal and Mohun Bagan put on the AIFF and IMG-Reliance did not work, it rather strengthened their resolve to sort out an Indian Super League without these clubs. It seems these the two clubs have overplayed their cards, but the door still is not completely closed as the saga continues like a daily returning soap opera.
In the end I hope it never happens, but the tide of development might just wash both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan away into the history books like many other clubs around the football world…
