AIFF president Praful Patel blames Mohun Bagan and East Bengal for not being able to attract sponsors

AIFF boss Praful Patel has lashed out at Mohun Bagan and East Bengal for not having enough sponsors

All India Football Association (AIFF) president Praful Patel questioned Kolkata football giants Mohun Bagan and East Bengal’s inability to attract the sponsors even though they have a big fan base in the country. Patel blamed both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan for not being able to bring sponsors at their door that made them financially insecure.

“Obviously! Mohun Bagan and East Bengal are classic examples who have a fan base of more than a lakh and still don’t have sponsors. I cannot say much on this but you should ask them what’s wrong not me,” he said speaking to Goal.com. Patel was also asked about whether AIFF is looking to bring more teams in the I-League. There is a speculation that Bengaluru’s Ozone FC would be considered as a new I-League club.

Meanwhile, Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, who owns the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, is in talks with Mohun Bagan to take over the century-old club. (Guwahati gets FIFA nod for hosting Under-17 World Cup games)

“Ozone FC is not being considered immediately because we need to promote clubs from other states but that doesn’t mean we won’t promote clubs from existent markets,” he replied.

Patel was also questioned on where the AIFF is currently focusing on junior or senior national team. Patel said AIFF is currently focusing on the junior national team as the 2017-U17 FIFA World Cup is not so far.

“I’ve always said this that the junior national team is our prime focus. The senior national team’s level can only be lifted a little bit but the junior team can be moulded and that remains our focus,” he opined.

Mohun Bagan are in recent years faced financial problems following the owner McDowell left the Club. Since then this reputed football club has been facing the difficult time, on the other hand, another city giant East Bengal has not been going through a good time. Following the Sharadha scam they faced a difficult time, however, they were rewarded cash for their good performance by the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Mohun Bagan have won the I-League in the 2014-2015 season.  They also played the continental tournaments likes AFC Cup and AFC Champions League.

Meanwhile, Indian U-17 is preparing for next year’s U-17 World Cup. This will be the first major FIFA tournament be held on Indian soil across the four cities-Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, and Kochi.

So, AIFF in the last couple of years has organized many exposure tours for U-17 teams. They have toured Iran, Germany, and Spain and played the U-16 Asian football championship in Goa.

This U-17 World Cup in India may change the enthusiasm around football in India because the future stars of football will come in India to play the game. There are many football greats who played the U-17 World Cup earlier.  Football great Diego Maradona is one of them.

FIFA for a long time working on football in India as they know India’s qualification for the World Cup will give them more revenue than ever. Catching the imagination of 1.22 billion is a totally different thing which FIFA never experienced.

AIFF also wants their youth team to perform well in the upcoming U-17 World Cup so they boys will get the biggest exposure ever. The tournament, is also expected, will change the way Indians consume the game.