'Will do whatever we can to safeguard city clubs' interests'
Throwing their weight firmly behind East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, the state's governing body for the sport, Indian Football Association said it would do its best to protect the interests of both the clubs. The two clubs will meet All India Football Federation president Praful Patel on Saturday seeking support for approaching the governing body's commercial and marketing partners IMG-Reliance to waive off the franchise fee of Rs 15 crore.
The fee is one of the conditions they have been asked to fulfil in order to be part of the revamped Indian Super League which will have all eight ISL franchises and possibly three I-League clubs. The traditional teams also want to play their home matches in Kolkata besides wanting to rope in their own sponsors. This, they believe, can help them prevent relinquishing intellectual properties such as jersey, logo, and team name, which would otherwise be granted to IMG-R.
"If the standoff between AIFF and its commercial and IMG-R regarding the participation of both Bengal clubs in the league remains, we will do whatever we can to see that their interests are safeguarded," IFA general secretary Utpal Ganguli said. Agencies