Kolkata giants East Bengal formally announced Emami Group as their new investor, overcoming multiple hurdles that had cropped up since their deal was agreed upon in presence of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on April 26.
Emami Group will keep 77 per cent share and East Bengal will have 23 per cent share – with the former having 7 board members and the later 3 – in the newly formed company.
It’s as also announced that the team name for the upcoming season will be East Bengal FC.
Commenting on this partnership, Mr. Aditya V. Agarwal, Director, Emami Group said, “Emami has a rich legacy of being associated with the sporting fraternity of the country. We believe that as Corporates, we need to come forward to provide impetus to the budding sportsmen right from the grass root levels."
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“Our brands, over the years, have been associated with many great names of Indian sports as our brand ambassadors across different disciplines – starting from the legendary the Late Milkha Singh to iconic players like Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir to Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, Mary Kom, Sushil Kumar and etc," Agarwal added.
“We have had a very successful association with East Bengal Club during mid-90’s as a sponsor. Through our new Joint Venture, Emami East Bengal, we are excited to re-partner once again and contribute towards the development of one of the best football properties of the country," the Director said.
Mr. Kalyan Majumder, Hon. Secretary, East Bengal Club said on this occasion, “We are happy and excited with this partnership with the Emami Group and together, as Emami East Bengal, we are hopeful of building one of India’s best Football team. The association with Emami is promising and we believe that this partnership is right for both the partners marking a new beginning full of exciting possibilities.
“The sporting activities of the club will gather pace now with efforts to join all tournaments including ISL as well as to enhance the player base, training capacity and infrastructure required to achieve more sporting successes," Majumder added.
The century-year-old club has had trouble holding down investors given that this is their third in four years.
East Bengal had roped in Bengaluru-based Quess Corp, selling a 70 per cent stake in 2018 but the relationship turned sour within two years and ended in a messy breakup.
In the last two seasons, the ‘red and gold brigade’ plied their trade in the top-tier Indian Super League – following their rivals Mohun Bagan – under the name SC East Bengal.
Their doomed-from-the-start association with Shree Cement Ltd ended prematurely after they finished ninth out of 11 teams, in their ISL debut in 2020-21, which was followed by a rock-bottom finish.
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