East Bengal investor Shree Cement has asked the club to specify which part of the term sheet they found to be “inconsistent, incorrect” since “this will enable us to move forward”.

On Wednesday, the investor replied to East Bengal’s letter, mailed on April 28, which had claimed that certain parts of the term sheet signed by both the parties on September 1 last year were inconsistent and incorrect.

“That is very vague. They should tell us which part of the term sheet is not correct. Otherwise how would we know what they are talking about,” a representative of Shree Cement East Bengal told The Telegraph.

In late March, Shree Cement had given an ultimatum to East Bengal via email attaching the term sheet and the final agreement papers. It had taken a month for the club to reply.

Shree Cement managing director Hari Mohan Bangur made the investor’s position clear. “We are not intruders. We were invited and the club should keep that in mind. We never factored in a situation of this kind. We can wait but they have to start the proceedings as early as possible,” Bangur told The Telegraph from Dubai on Wednesday.

“It’s more than eight months and they are yet to sign on the dotted line. I don’t know why they are doing so,” he added.

Bangur said he is readyto “wait for 500 years” but that would not solve the problem. “We can wait for 500 years but that won’t solve the issue. Problem is at their end so they need to take the initiative. I don’t have any idea what will happen in the coming days but I am still hopeful,” he said.

One source, who did not wish to be named, went to the extent of accusing the club of committing an “economic offence”.

“Obviously when someone invests so much money on the basis of you promising to sign the final agreement and then you renege, it’s an economic offence. The club wants Shree Cement’s money as well as the control too. That cannot be the case,” he said.

Shree Cement had come on board after chief minister Mamata Banerjee played a leading role in ensuring East Bengal’s entry into the top flight Indian Super League (ISL) as the 11th team.

Now, while everyone is hoping that she would once again intervene to end the impasse, sources close to the chief minister said she had more pressing matters to contend with. “Her priority is fighting the pandemic. During such a crisis she can’t be expected to spare time to resolve the Shree Cement- East Bengal deadlock,” the source said.

Additional reporting by Arindam Bandyopadhyay