KOLKATA: East Bengal club and its investor Emami Group are now on a glide path to formally joining hands together and building a “strong team” for the upcoming season.
Club officials and representatives from the investor met on Wednesday over drawing up the agreement and both parties were understood to have arrived at a consensus over some contentious points in it.
Confirming the development, a statement from the investor said that legal teams of both parties are now preparing the final draft of the agreement, two months after chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced Emami Group as the new investor for the city club.
In March, soon after their disastrous campaign in the ISL got over, previous investor Shree Cement Ltd decided to severe ties with the club, ending their venture in two crises-ridden seasons during which the term sheet signed between the two parties in 2020 was never executed into a definitive agreement.
“The officials of both Emami and East Bengal club met today for a discussion on the draft agreement. The meeting was fruitful. While most of the points were already cleared between both the parties, today's meeting helped to clear the remaining points positively,” said the statement, issued by both parties.
“The lawyers of both parties will now jointly prepare final draft of the agreement for execution as soon as possible. Both Emami and East Bengal Club will also make efforts to put together a good and strong team asap. Emami and East Bengal are happy to inform that everything is on the right track and will progress very fast,” it further stated.
In a related development, defender Hira Mondal — who had had an impressive show in East Bengal jersey in last season’s Indian Super League — is learnt to have decided to buy more time in deciding his future, indicating that he may stay with the red-and-gold camp following the latest development.
Meanwhile, ATK Mohun Bagan have extended contract with young goalkeeper Arsh Anwar for three more years, the club announced it on Wednesday. After Arsh impressed coach Juan Ferrando with his performance in the team's AFC Cup Group D campaign, the team management decided to retain the youngster.
