Reports: East Bengal to have pre-season camp in Malaysia

Aiming to win the elusive I-League, East Bengal Football Club are all set to have their pre-season camp in Malaysia. Though nothing official has been announced yet, club sources said the team have already started preparing for a new sojourn.

After the National Football League was rechristened the I-League, East Bengal have failed to win the title a single time. They ended runners-up on three occasions. Rubbing salt into their wounds, arch-rivals Mohun Bagan clinched the title in 2015, overtaking Bengaluru FC, who now play in the Indian Super League.

East Bengal officials tried their best to bring home the coveted title by chopping and changing coaches frequently, but all their efforts went in vain. There was a glimmer of hope last year when the red and golds included I-League winning coach Khalid Jamil in their ranks. Khalid promised to bring home the title. Soon the promised faded away and East Bengal finished fourth, behind Minerva Punjab, Neroca FC and Mohun Bagan. Khalid was shown the door immediately.

A few months ago, East Bengal announced their association with Quess Corp Pvt Ltd as their investor. Quess promised to shell out nearly 400-crore to rebuild the team. After a few days, East Bengal announced the signing of Costa Rican World Cup player Johnny Acosta, who played all three matches for his country in Russia.

East Bengal also appointed Spaniard Alejandro Menendez Garcia as their new coach, despite having Bastab Roy and Subhash Bhowmick in their ranks. Bastab and Subhash failed to retain the CFL title and it was evident that they would be shown the door after the campaign was over. East Bengal also signed Borja Gomez Perez and striker Enrique Esqueda a few days ago.

In the meantime, the club was handed a four-month transfer ban by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for forgery concerning former Minerva player Sukhdev Singh's signing.

On Wednesday, Alejandro conducted his first training session. Borja was also present along with others.

Having a pre-season camp outside the country is not something new for ISL clubs. But this is the first time that an I-League club will go outside the country to prepare themselves for the upcoming season. Initially, it was thought that East Bengal will go to Spain. But after many discussions regarding the huge cost, Malaysia seemed a viable option for everyone.

East Bengal will play a friendly match against FC Goa on Saturday and the team will fly to Malaysia directly from there. It is learned that they will stay there for 20-21 days. The I-League is expected to start from the third week of November or the first week of December.