Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wants the impasse between East Bengal and its investor Shree Cement to end before August 16, the day her government has announced would be marked as Khela Hobe Divas.
Shree Cement managing director Hari Mohan Bangur had called on Mamata at Nabanna on Wednesday.
“Apart from discussing future investments in the state, the East Bengal issue also cropped up. The chief minister is very cut up with the club officials for the way the situation has been handled. She wants everything to be sorted out before August 16. So hopefully the final agreement will be signed in one or two days,” a source, who spoke under cover of anonymity, told The Telegraph on Thursday.
While launching the Khela Hobe programme on August 2, Mamata had assured East Bengal fans on the club’s ISL (Indian Super League) future and criticised the Maidan giant’s officials for making a mess of the deal. “Officials will have to give some leeway... Then the deal will be signed,” she had said at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.
To celebrate Khela Hobe Divas, 25,500 clubs have been given Rs 15,000 each. Moreover, 300-odd clubs affiliated with the IFA got the fund along with clubs run by the state and Calcutta police.
Shree Cement, it has been learnt, would be sending the final agreement to the club on Friday after all the “necessary incorporations”.
“Incorporations in the final agreement are not deviations from what was there in the term sheet. Shree Cement has just broadened certain clauses. Now, the ball is in the club’s court. If the club asks for more, I do not think the investor will accept that. Shree Cement, which has already invested more than Rs 50 crore, is also losing its patience,” the source said.
From a football perspective, the impasse needs to end as early as possible since the transfer window closes on August 31.
“Less than three weeks are left. Even if the deal is signed, team building has already been affected,” he said.
SC East Bengal is unofficially in contact with some Indian players, and told them things will sorted out by this week. One footballer though didn’t sound too excited. “The players are hearing ‘by this week’ for the last 12 weeks,” he said.
Last year, East Bengal finished ninth.
