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I-League champions Mohun Bagan took to social media to thank all the participating I-League sides after the League Committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced that the 2019-20 season will be cancelled, with the Mariners set to be officially announced as the champions.
In a post on their official Facebook page, Mohun Bagan thanked all the participating I-League sides except their arch-rivals East Bengal.
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East Bengal's appeal to the Asian Football Confederation
East Bengal recently appealed to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) after the continental association congratulated Mohun Bagan for winning the I-League. The Red and Golds, who are second on the standings with 23 points from 16 games, vociferously claimed the second position in the league along with the prize money (worth 60 Lakhs INR) that comes along with it.
However, the remaining I-League sides contradicted this claim as all of them, barring Indian Arrows, stood a chance to finish at least second on merit if the remaining games were to be played.
Gokulam Kerala president VC Praveen also expressed his concerns over East Bengal's appeal to AFC and said:
“We were looking forward to a strong finish and taking second place behind Bagan. Finishing second would have meant a lot to us, as this was only the third I-League for us and we had prepared hard for this season and had invested heavily on our foreign players."
The All India Football Federation set aside all such claims from the East Bengal officials and declared Mohun Bagan as the I-League champions. The prize money (excluding the champions prize money) is also set to be divided equally among the remaining 10 participating I-League sides.
Mohun Bagan fans were quick to spot the jibe and congratulated their side by also taking a dig at East Bengal. The Mariners will now play in the Indian Super League from the 2020-21 season under the newly-formed entity ATK-Mohun Bagan in association with ISL side ATK.
East Bengal are expected to follow suit and join the cash-rich league to keep the age-old rivalry between the two Kolkata giants alive in the Indian Super League as well.
