AIFF asks East Bengal to inform about club's change of ownership structure to acquire AFC license for next season

Kolkata giants East Bengal will now have to officially inform the club’s status and change of ownership structure to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to clear AFC’s club licensing criteria after having separated from Quess Corp. Their Bengaluru-based investors came on board in July 2018 after which the red-and-gold brigade came to be known as Quess East Bengal FC Pvt Ltd. [caption id=“attachment_7783231” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of East Bengal FC. Image: Twitter @ILeagueOfficial[/caption] Quess Corp acquired a majority stake of 70 per cent. Now it remains to be seen whether Quess East Bengal FC would be diluted and the footballing rights be transferred back to East Bengal or the company will hold on to their shares in the hope of recovering losses. But for acquiring the AFC Club licensing for the 2020-21 season, East Bengal has to submit a valid declaration to the AIFF, outlining the ownership. “The letter has been sent to the (Quess) chairman. We are following it up. Our respective solicitor firms are looking into it,” a club official told PTI. East Bengal has had a sour relationship with Quess since the company came on board. East Bengal finished runners-up in the 2018-19 I-League, but their performance dipped in the 2019-2020 season, finishing second best to arch-rivals Mohun Bagan.