Sports

Football hits Ponzi roadblock

by Trans World Features (TWF) 20 Apr 2014, 11:28 am

Kolkata football pays the price for being ponzi pets. TWF correspondent Arindam Basu finds out the after effects of Sharada scam

Southern Samity, a club playing in the Premiere Division of Kolkata Football League, have stopped short of fielding a side this year. This, despite the fact that State Sports Minister Madan Mitra is the club president. “We have not been able to get sponsors for my club. The situation is so bad that we don’t think we can make a team worth its name. In that case Southern Samity will not field a team this year,” an official said. Southern Samity played in the I-League second division last year.

They may have to part ways with a few big names in Subrata Pal, Gourmangi Singh, Shylo Malwamtulunga, Lalkamal Bhowmick and Dhanachandra Singh. Though it seems they have paid the country’s best striker in Ranti Martins, it will be hard for them to retain the other foreigners in Kayne Vincent and Bello Razaq. Costa Rican World Cupper Carlos Hernandez has already left the club for Australia. Now with barely a few days left for the transfer window to close it remains to be seen if the club can pull out a rabbit from its hat.

To add to the jeopardy East Bengal’s co-sponsors included Sharada Group, Bluechip Projects and Rose Valley (also hit by a SEBI crackdown) among others, while Mohun Bagan had Sharada Group and Amra Remedies in their patron list among others.

They made matters worse by unilaterally releasing all footballers, except Shilton Paul, Biswajit Saha, Iche, Aibor, Denson Devadas, Manish Bhargav, Sabeeth and Odafa Okolie. Some of these footballers had contract with the club for at least two more seasons. Among those having contracts and then released included senior footballers like Arindam Bhattacharya, Snehashis Chakroborty, Manish Maithani and Nirmal Chetri and they have promised not to take the injustice lying down. Club Secretary Anjan Mitra said  they have reduced their spending by almost 40 per cent.

Problems began when the players were offered new contract with a reduced salary. Chidi Edeh, Uga Okpara, Mehtab Hussain, Arnab Mondal, Abhijit Mondal, Harmanjyot Singh Khabra, Gurwinder Singh and Baljit Sahni were some of the big names who have signed on the dotted lines after a pay cut for a chance to play AFC Cup quarterfinals. But many have not. While, Penn Orji has moved on to Mohammedan Sporting, the fifth I-league club from the city this year, Robin Singh and Manandeep Singh are free players among other handful.

There is a further twist in the tale. While the clubs look like headless chicken wandering about in search of sponsors, IFA itself is finding it a tad difficult going into the new season. While NVD Group was the prime sponsor for IFA Shield, Channel 10 held some of the major television rights. With NVD Group backing out and Channel 10 going broke after Sharada crisis, the hunt has begun anew for the regulatory body also.

For now the clubs are finding it difficult to dribble through the business of football. Only time will tell where they head.