East Bengal board votes against participating in Super Cup 2019; agrees to bid for ISL spot next season

Kolkata: East Bengal board members on Thursday decided not to participate in the Super Cup main round which begins in Bhubaneswar, holding firm to the alliance of eight rebelling I-League clubs. Terming it ‘unethical’ to pull out of the alliance, East Bengal said in a statement: “The East Bengal nominees on the Board suggested that since an alliance of Clubs have already been formed, it would be unethical for us to come out of the Alliance.” [caption id=“attachment_4349491” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of the East Bengal team. Twitter/@eastbengalfc[/caption] The first board meeting of the club since Quess Corp became the club’s investors in July also agreed to bid for the Indian Super League. The board meeting was held in Bengaluru. “The Board also agreed to bid for ISL if the terms are financially acceptable. The East Bengal nominees mentioned that they would convey the decision to Executive Committee of the club and discuss further,” it added. East Bengal, which had finished runners-up in the I-League, were to play against ISL side Delhi Dynamos in their Round of 16 match on 30 March. A section of club officials of East Bengal wanted to take part in the Super Cup but the investors, Quess Corp, who took the call, were firmly against it. Their difference of opinion had reached to such a level that some club officials were even mulling at one point of time to field a separate team in the name of President’s XI. The Super Cup is the premier knockout club tournament of the AIFF, competed among I-League and ISL teams. But eight I-League clubs, including Mohun Bagan and new champions Chennai City FC, had formed an alliance and decided to withdraw from the competition citing AIFF’s “unfair treatment”. Minerva Punjab, Aizawl FC and Gokulam Kerala had not also turned up in the qualifying round matches played in Bhubaneswar on 15 and 16 March.