Mohun Bagan suspend first-team operations, East Bengal seek BCCI's help after AIFF fails to attract bid for ISL

The crisis that Indian football has been in this year worsened on Friday after the All India Football Federation failed to attract any interest while hunting for a new commercial partner for the Indian Super League.

With the top division of men’s club football in India still in a state of limbo after the Kalyan Chaubey-led AIFF’s failure to secure a single bid in its tender process launched on 16 October, defending champions Mohun Bagan have decided to suspend first-team operations.

According to a report on The Indian Express, the Mariners were initially optimistic of the league getting underway on 15 December and were planning to assemble their players for a camp on Monday. Those plans, however, have been shelved ever since Indian football was dealt one of its most crippling blows in recent memory.

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“We were optimistic of a December 15 start for the ISL and the players were initially scheduled to assemble on Monday for the camp,” a Mohun Bagan official was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Mohun Bagan had completed an ISL double last season, winning the League Winners Shield as well as the ISL Cup, beating Bengaluru FC in the Cup final. They had also won the league shield the previous season but had fallen short in the Cup final against Mumbai City FC.

They aren’t the only club forced to take drastic measures in the wake of Indian football’s crisis that’s getting worse with each passing month; two-time ISL Cup champions Chennaiyin FC were forced to suspend operations in August while Bengaluru FC were forced to freeze the legendary Sunil Chhetri’s salary around the same time.

‘For BCCI, Rs 100–150 crore is not much’

Mohun Bagan’s fierce cross-town rivals East Bengal haven’t taken any such step so far, with the club’s senior executive committee member Debabrata Sarkar telling Press Trust of India that they’re continuing operations as usual, and expect the ISL to “go on”.

The crisis surrounding Indian football, however, has not gone unnoticed in the ‘Red and Gold Brigade’, who have urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to “sponsor football” for a few years in order to save the sport that finds itself crumbling in the cricket-mad nation.

“We have not yet suspended our operations. I personally feel ISL will go on. Indian football cannot stop like this. I strongly believe the Union Sports Ministry, AIFF and former officials will definitely not let it happen,” Sarkar told the news agency.

“Personally, I have an appeal. Football is the most popular sport worldwide and also in India. So my appeal is if the BCCI gets ready to sponsor Indian football for at least four-five years, for them Rs 100–150 crore is not much. If they take responsibility, Indian football can move forward in a better way. It can’t get better than this,” he added.

East Bengal are currently competing in the Super Cup, where they face Punjab FC in the semi-finals on 4 December. FC Goa face Mumbai City FC in the other semi-final fixture, with the winners of the two knockout matches locking horns in the final on 7 December.

Mohun Bagan had bowed out of the Super Cup in the group stage after a goalless draw against East Bengal on 31 October.