United Spirits Limited (USL), which was taken over by Diageo Plc. from liquor baron Vijay Mallya has apparently decided to cut down on its sponsorship money to around Rs 5 crore from the current Rs 8 crore for the club. "There has been a substantial cut on funds on account of USL going to a different company," said a top club official. The minority shareholders of USL, on December 28, turned down nine resolutions which included sponsorship deal with United Mohun Bagan Footbal Team Pvt Ltd Club secretary Anjan Mitra had earlier said that a club like Mohun Bagan needs minimum Rs 11-12 crore a year to function smoothly.
The club was already facing fund crunch after the Saradha racket was busted. Saradha had a sponsorship deal with the club.
A top official of the club says that USL decided to cut on budget because there were multiple irregularities on part of the club officials. "The functioning collapsed because the current leadership did not furnish any details to the Registrar of Companies (ROC) for the last two years, I suspect some foul play," said Atin Ghosh, an executive committe member.
The deal, which was inked between Vijay Mallya's United Brweries (UB) group and Mohun Bagan club, changed the club's fortune in 1998. Mohun Bagan formed a 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) - United Mohun Bagan Footbaal Team Pvt.Ltd. along with United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd under which UB has been sponsoring the team through USL's MC Dowell's brand.
Under deal, four officials of the club, genral secretary Anjan Kumar Mitra, president Swapan Sadhan Bose, finance secretary Debashish Dutta and Srinjoy Bose jointly took a 50 percent stake.
"A few person became a party to the deal, they were the shareholders and not the club, why so," asks Ghosh. The UB group refused to comment on the story.
Atin Ghosh's statements point towards the power struggle that has gripped the club. Mohun Bagan's general secretary, Anjan Kumar Mitra, along with president Swapan Sadhan Bose and finance secretary Debashis Dutta, stepped down from the board of United Mohun Bagan on January 4. Their resignations were not accepted and they are still serving in their positions. While TMC general secretary Subrata Mukherjee has thrown his weight behind the Mitra camp, Atin Ghosh, another TMC strongman is vehemently against continuing with the current management.
When contacted club secretary Anjan Mitra refused that there were any financial irregularities. " The club could not sign a deal as it was not registered at that time , so we took stake as ex-officio shareholders, whoever is elected in our positions will be the owner of the stake, " he said.
The club hasn't been able to pay players' salary for the last three months and a sponsorship money cut in such times might put its future in jeopardy.
