The crackdown on the Saradha chit fund scam has now made an impact on West Bengal’s football arena with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) freezing the accounts of the Mohun Bagan and East Bengal football clubs.
The ED started by freezing two accounts of the East Bengal football club, whose executive committee member Debabrata Sarkar was recently arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for his role in the multi crore Saradha scam.
On Tuesday, Mohun Bagan and two smaller clubs – Bhawanipore Sporting and Kalighat Sporting – also had their accounts frozen.
For all four clubs, these accounts were used to pay staff salary and other major expenses.
Although details are still unknown, sources said that East Bengal had Rs 1.5 crore and several lakh in its two frozen accounts.
The ED and the CBI had put the four clubs on the radar from day one of the probe into the scam for receiving crores in sponsorship from Saradha group. However, the primary sponsor for Mohun Bagan and East Bengal is United Breweries (UB), with the title sponsors for the two clubs being UB and Kingfisher respectively.
Around 75 per cent of the money in the frozen accounts of the two clubs was from UB’s sponsorship, while the rest was from secondary sponsors like Saradha, which had been extending its support to the clubs since 2010.
For East Bengal officials, the ED decision to freeze the club’s accounts came as a bolt from the blue as functionaries had been cooperating with the proceedings of the investigation.
“We met the ED whenever they called us and provided them with all documents,” said East Bengal football club secretary Kalyan Majumdar. He added that the club would have been in bigger financial trouble if there was an upcoming match as players would have to be payed. Officials from Mohun Bagan and the two smaller clubs were not available for comment.
The East Bengal football club has written to the ED to rethink its decision and is contemplating taking legal steps. It is even ready to make a joint appeal with its arch-rival Mohun Bagan to get out of the financial crisis.
“We have appealed to the ED pointing out that we are not a commercial club but a social organisation. We have also asked for an appointment with the ED director,” Majumdar said.
The East Bengal secretary pointed out that if the club was unable to pay their players, it could have international repercussions and tarnish the image of Indian football.
“The ED did not even think about the fact that we have a number of foreign players. If they don’t get their salaries on time, they will complain to FIFA and it could have long-standing effects on Indian football. It is a matter of national prestige. We are waiting for a positive response from them.”