I-League 2018: East Bengal announce Quess Corp Ltd as new investors ahead of upcoming season

Kolkata giants East Bengal have announced a change in their name, with the club set to be called Quess East Bengal from now on.

The Red and Golds have faced a few tumultuous few seasons financially, and have now decided to overhaul their structure, after signing a new deal with Quess Corp Ltd. While Quess is set to be the new title sponsor of the Kolkata Giants, the 10-year-old company has also been roped in as their new investor.

With this new partnership, East Bengal are also set to overhaul their board structure, with a total of seven board members set to call the shots at the club. Out of these, four members will be from Quess, while three others are to be from the current crop at East Bengal, Sportskeeda has learnt.

While the new investment brings fresh hopes of an entry into the cash-rich Indian Super League, a final call on the matter is yet to be taken.

East Bengal were previously on a similar partnership with the UB Group-owned Kingfisher, who were also their title and shirt sponsors. However, that has now changed, as the Kolkata Giants have gone for a new investor for the upcoming football season.

The Red and Golds are set to kick off the upcoming season on Friday, against SAIL (Burnpur) in the IFA Shield, where they are set to face off against SAIL Burnpur at the East Bengal Ground.

This will be followed by the Calcutta Football League (CFL), a tournament that the Red and Golds have won for eight years in a row, now.

The Kolkata outfit fought a tough I-League title race before finishing fourth last year, but if rumours are to be believed, the club management is trying to push for a spot in the ISL in the coming season, with the backing of their new investors.

There had previously been talks about the Red and Gold brigade joining the cash-rich league, but the franchise fee of Rs 15 crore is said to have prevented them from making the switch.