ISL club co-owner accuses actor of violating contract

Guwahati: One of the co-owners of the North East United Football Club (NEUFC), Sanjiv Narain, has decided to walk out of the team after accusing Bollywood actor John Abraham of breaching an agreement.
Narain, who held 33% share in the Guwahati franchise of the cash-rich Indian Super League (ISL), alleged that the Bollywood actor had sidelined another co-owner, Larsing Ming Sawyan, and reduced his share as well. The ISL will start from October 12.
“Under very trying circumstances, I’m walking out of the NEUFC.John Abraham violated the initial agreement and started behaving differently. John has even sidelined Larsing Ming Sawyan, who has been instrumental in forming the team. He has forcefully reduced his share. Now, John is asking me to reduce my share as well. This is very unfortunate,” Narain told reporters in the city on Monday.
Narain has also alleged that John and Ronnie Lahiri, another associate of the club, have been urging them to sell their shares to a private firm, Brahmaputra Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, under the direction of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi.
“This was uncalled for as we had decided not to sell our shares in the first year. This is a commercial venture where huge money is at stake, but I could not spot any development work at the grassroots-level for the benefit of the game in the region,” he added.
Another reason sited by Narain for leaving the club is reportedly its name. Many, including Assam sports minister Ajit Singh, All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu) and Assam Football Association’s secretary Ankur Dutta, had advocated for a change in the name of the club. They wanted the inclusion of the word Guwahati in the name but that did not materialize.
“Every franchise was registered with the name of its home city. So, everybody in the state wanted the name of the club to include Guwahati. But John and company did not take to the idea,” Narain added.
He criticized the team’s move of not organizing any event in the city, which is the official home ground of the club.
John Abraham violated the initial agreement and started behaving differently. He has even sidelined Larsing Sawyan