Champions in 2014-15 and runners-up in the last season, the 127-year-old Mohun Bagan Club seems to have been caught in a time warp. Or, in 2016.
Seven days into the new year, Mohun Bagan put up as backdrop to the official pre-match media conference of their 10th I-League opener, against Churchill Brothers, that said “Hero Federation Cup 2016.”
Asked why, a club official said it would be changed for the next game. The official didn’t elaborate.
This isn’t the only sign of mismanagement at a club that rarely misses an opportunity to criticise the often amateurish ways of football organisers in India.
Having decided that they would play at the Rabindra Sarovar stadium in this I-League, Mohun Bagan were snubbed by a National Green Tribunal bench in Kolkata on Friday. That meant shifting their opening game to Barasat stadium.
“We didn’t get even a single training session at the match venue. They (Mohun Bagan) gave us their practice ground but we couldn’t hold closed-door sessions here,” said Churchill Brothers coach Alfred Fernandes here on Saturday.
Both transgressions are likely to invite sanctions from the All India Football Federation.
{{/usCountry}}Both transgressions are likely to invite sanctions from the All India Football Federation.
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