Mohun Bagan say won't submit ISL bid document

Mohun Bagan said on Wednesday they would not submit the bid document unless their three demands are met in order to be inducted into the Indian Super League.

The former I-League champions collected the Invitation To Bid document on the last day and Thursday is the submission deadline.

"The Indian constitution has been amended many times after its formation, and similarly here, the dates for a private organisation can also be changed," Mohun Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra said, taking a dig at Football Sports Development Limited, a subsidiary of IMG-Reliance that runs the ISL.

"We did not want to give any scope to IMG-R who cannot deny that we have not bought the documents. The date of submission of the bid documents is not a factor to us," Mitra said after their executive committee meeting.

East Bengal are expected to follow suit as the Maidan heavyweights were bolstered by the backing of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"We are extremely grateful to the chief minister. We have already sent her a letter to show our gratitude," Mitra said as Mamata had asked them to not bow down under pressure.

The two clubs' main demand is the waiver of franchise fee of Rs 15 crore.

"Apart from this we also need the money of the central pool and would like to play the tournament in Kolkata. These three demands have been brought up in our executive meeting today and has been agreed by all the officials of the club."

Throwing an open challenge to the ISL organisers, finance secretary Debasish Dutta said: "The revolt has already started and would spread all over Bengal. We would like to see how well the tournament progresses if the two most popular teams of the state, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, are not allowed to participate."

Image: Mohun Bagan players celebrate after winning I League

Photograph: AIFF Media