Cricket veteran and BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly informed that Manchester United owners may be interested in buying the East Bengal team. He discussed with the media that negotiations were on with United as well as other teams.
Ganguly on Tuesday, said, “Yes we have spoken to them and others also. When asked if the new members were on board as investors, he said, “No no, as an owner. It takes some time. First, let it reach a stage then we will comment. I will speak only after there’s a concrete development.”
East Bengal problems
East Bengal has had off-field problems, with their contract with Shree Cement Ltd ending last month after the firm turned over all the sporting assets. In recent years, the century-old Kolkata club has failed to maintain its ties with investors intact. This has resulted in bad outcomes. The cement giant purchased a 76 percent share in the team to assist them to join the ISL to follow the footsteps of its arch-rivals Mohun Bagan, who partnered with ATK the very same year. East Bengal’s association, on the other hand, did not go smoothly, as their executive committee declined to sign the final agreement, citing inconsistencies in the original term.
They had signed Liverpool icon Robbie Fowler. However, owing to poor execution, they ended ninth in their first ISL season with nine losses, eight draws, and only three victories. Shree Cement opted to continue in the previous ISL season at the urging of Mamata Banerjee. However, they finished at the end of the table. They just won a single game out of 20 matches with 11 losses, and eight draws. They had previously been rumored to be in talks with Bangladesh-based company Bashundhara Group, however, no agreement was reached.
