I-League 2018: 19 executive committee members resign as Mohun Bagan face dire conditions

A couple of days ago, 14 members of the working committee resigned from their respective posts after much turmoil within the management of the century-old club.

Previously, two of Bagan’s most influential men, Srinjoy Bose and Debashish Dutta turned down their responsibilities owing to the non-co-operation received from club secretary Anjan Mitra.

In a press conference summoned by the resigned members of the executive committee, the outgoing members expressed their grievances and also the reason for the resignation.

Following the resignation of Dutta and Bose, the other executive members pleaded them to stay to save the club from the situation.

After much confusion, both of them were kept as a part of the five-member executive committee which will be instrumental in forming the team for the next season.

“When Tumpai (Srinjoy Bose) resigned, the condition of the club was not favourable, but we tried to bring back things under control. But when several efforts made by us failed, we formed a five-member executive committee consulting with our secretary. After many requests, Srinjoy and Debashish were included in the committee,” said Satyajit Chatterjee at the press conference.

The committee worked hard in assembling a proposed list of players and the budget and handed over to Mohun Bagan’s Secretary Anjan Mitra personally at his premises.

The honourable secretary asked for two days time to think about the matter and give a final verdict. But four days had already passed and Anjan Mitra was yet to respond.

Regarding the meeting held at Anjan Mitra’s house, Chatterjee said, “We had discussions over there for around one and a half hours, but surprisingly; we had never talked about the budget and the pending salaries of the players.”

The Joint Conveners of the committee, Chatterjee and Uttam Saha asked for a meeting immediately and the 5 member board met at Anjan’s house on April 22. But to the surprise of everyone, the meeting was a farce! Not only Mitra gave any assurance about the estimated budget for the proposed list nor did he discuss the pending salaries of the players for the previous season.

That was enough! The committee members were so disappointed that they decided to resign as they were not being able to give their best to the club, due to lack of budget and co-operation from the head official.

But all of them assured that they won’t turn their backs on the club if their services are needed in the future.

Satyajit Chatterjee has been associated with the club since his playing days and has been loyal to the club.

He continuously donned the green and maroon jersey for 15 years and also held various managerial posts after his retirement.

During the press conference at the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club on Wednesday afternoon, he spoke his hearts out.

A part of Satyajit’s resignation letter to Mitra read,” I was deeply overjoyed that I got an opportunity to serve the club which has made me today what I am. But unfortunately, the situation and the circumstances which were unfolded over the last few days have left me shattered and devastated. I am deeply stunned by your attitude during our several meetings.” That says it all.

With 19 of the 31 executive committee members parting ways with the club, it will be an uphill task for the secretary and the other officials to pave the roadmap for the club in the future. Time will tell whether they can save the ‘Mariners’ from a shipwreck!