Less than 24 hours after being handed over the sporting rights by Shree Cement, East Bengal declared that they would announce a new investor “within 15 days” and will continue to play in the top-tier Indian Super League.
Bangladesh conglomerate Bashundhara Group, which owns Bashundhara Kings club, has emerged as the frontrunner to invest in East Bengal. But they will need to complete some formalities before coming on board.
“We have held preliminary discussions with the Bashundhara Group who are currently in talks with the Prime Minister’s Office,” East Bengal’s top executive committee member, Debabarata Sarkar, said at the club tent on Wednesday.
“Once they receive a green signal, our talks will advance. We are confident of announcing our decision in the next 15 days or so.”
“Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called me on February 17 and said that Shree Cements wanted to hand the sporting rights back to us. So we were mentally prepared for the letter. We have accepted the letter and it has been sent to our lawyer. We are thankful to Shree Cements for their contribution towards the club. Now is the time to look forward,” Debabrata Sarkar told media at a press conference held at the club tent on Wednesday.
The club official claimed that the process to identify and sign players for the next season are already underway with the help of former players. “We have asked our ex-players to come up with suggestions regarding the recruitment. They have sent us a list of players from I-League. They’ll also be present at Santosh Trophy venues to scout players,” he said.
However, he explained that going forward, they will only be willing to hand over their football rights to their next investor and not sporting rights as was done previously. East Bengal faithful’s can once again hope for the club to return to its glorious days after a dismal couple of years in ISL, according to Mr. Sarkar.
