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Regular-article-logo Tuesday, 27 May 2025

BAGAN WANT GOVERNMENT TO PAY 

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Staff Reporter Published 26.05.00, 12:00 AM
Calcutta, May 26 :     Mohun Bagan will send a letter to Chief Minister Jyoti Basu urging the state government to pay the $ 3,000 fine that has been imposed on the club by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Mohun Bagan's Asian Club home match versus Japan's Jubilo Iwata, scheduled for October 16 in the city, could not take place as the state police maintained the scheduled date - October 16 - being the first day of the Pujas, enough police personnel won't be available for the match. Today, after an executive council meeting of the club, secretary Anjan Mitra said that it has been decided that the club would ask the state government to pay the fine. And if the government refuses to do so, legal steps will be taken. 'It was not our fault the match could not take place. The government has to take responsibility. We have asked the AIFF to appoint and inquiry committee to find out what exactly went wrong and who should be blamed,' said Mitra. Club elections And after a long gap, the club could also see elections. Swapan Sadhan Bose, president, announced today that the elections will be held on September 3. Lawyer Gitanath Ganguly will be the observer. Satyajit's future For old war-horse Satyajit Chatterjee, the future seems bleak at the club which he has served for years. With coach Subrata Bhattacharya unhappy with his recent performance, the club officials are clearly divided on what treatment he should get. While Bose sounded sympathetic, Mitra was undecided. Though Satyajit may be registered with the club again, if the coach doesn't want him he will not play, Bose said. He added that keeping in mind the veteran midfielder's contributions to the club over the years, the season's first game at the club ground, will be declared as his 'benefit match'. A farewell gift? There was no direct answer. Meanwhile, despite all these big talk about elections and the like, the club has yet to formalise a task as simple as registration of its players, despite the McDowell Cup being just round the corner. Gallery renovations Mohun Bagan have plans of renovating the part of the gallery reserved for military personnel, Mitra added. A covered area, with a sitting capacity of 200 has been planned. About 25 to 30 seats will be reserved for high-ranked military personnel. The rest will be reserved for special card holders. Priced at Rs 10,000, they will enable the card-holder to watch matches from there for life. With the state government's 'aloofness' regarding the state of the general stands in the enclosed grounds at the Maidan, this kind of steps may be necessary to spruce up soccer in the city.    
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