Indian Football: Chirag Computers buys 60% Viva Kerala stake

Viva Kerala and Chirag Computers have come to an agreement that the Kolkata based company will buy a 60 percent controlling stake in Viva Kerala for an undisclosed fee while the other 40 perfect stake stays with the club directors. This means football fans in Kerala can sleep again as Viva Kerala will not be following in the footsteps of Mahindra United and JCT to close down their team.

Last season Viva Kerala had been sponsored by Kunnath Pharmaceuticals through their brand Musli Power, who earlier had sponsored Churchill Brothers SC. There had been talks about Kunnath Pharmaceuticals picking-up a stake in the club, but that didn’t happen for unknown reasons.

The RP Group of Companies owned Chirag Computers had been the sponsors of United Sports Club since 2006 and under the name of Chirag United SC the team from Kolkata came up from the 2nd Division into the top tier. But in the last few weeks there has been a dispute over ownership and control of the club, which the management of United SC ended by terminating the sponsorship deal.

Thereafter Chirag Computers owner Kaustav Roy has been on the lookout for an alternative club to not only sponsor, but also own. Clubs in Kolkata turned down the opportunity after which Mr. Roy was considering of launching a new club under the name of Chirag Athletic Club, but as the club would have to play the lowest division in Kolkata football that option fell through.

Contact was established with Viva Kerala only a few days ago, who where on the lookout for a new sponsor and they where willing to give that new partner a stake in the club. There have been reports that German car major Volkswagen was interested to sponsor Viva Kerala, but that has been denied by the Germans.

The deal between Viva Kerala and Chirag Computers was finalised last night in Mumbai and the club will from now on be known as Chirag Kerala instead of Viva Kerala. The club has already lost some of their key players in Bello Razaq, N.P. Pradeep and P.K. Anil Kumar; but Chirag is said to be willing to spend for the club to bring in quality players though many have already signed for other clubs.

For the moment Viva Kerala will stay in the south Indian state, but knowing Kaustav Roy he might be thinking to bring ‘his club’ closer to his home in the future. In the new season Chirag Kerala hope to play their home games in Kochi again, but that has not been decided yet.