Investor row threatens Mohammedan Sporting's ISL debut, club confident of solution

Aug. 27, 2024, 9:27 a.m.

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Barely two days after Mohammedan Sporting’s ISL entry was made official, the Kolkata club ran into trouble as their principal investors, Bunkerhill, announced that the deal was off due to “wrong expectations”, even as the club remained confident of reaching an agreement through “amicable discussions”.

After securing the I-League 2023-24 championship, the over-a-century-old club was promoted to the Indian Super League (ISL). Their entry was officially announced on Saturday. Their inaugural ISL match is scheduled for September 16th in Kolkata against NorthEast United FC.

Advertisement Bunkerhill Pvt. Ltd, based in Gurgaon, owns 61% of the club's shares after a deal in 2020. Following the entrance of Shrachi Sports as a new investor, the two companies agreed to split the ownership, with each holding 30.5% of the shares. This agreement was formalized through a term sheet earlier this month.

But founder and chairman of Bunkerhill Dipak Kumar Singh has announced in a video post on social media that the deal was not happening because of “some wrong expectations”.

Video by Dipak Kumar Singh posted in his Facebook profile.

According to reports, the Bunkerhill - Shrachi Sports deal has been shelved because MSC club officials are unwilling to sign the necessary documents. MSC officials are seeking greater representation on the board that governs the club. pic.twitter.com/81v0pZGLiS

— Athletic India (@athleticindia) August 26, 2024 “I’ve a message from Bunkerhill side. We had made a deal with Shrachi Sports regarding investment in ISL. A term sheet was signed on that basis. When it came to the final agreement, the club made several changes that were not acceptable,” Singh said in his Facebook video post.

“Originally, it was planned that all three parties have two members each in the Board of directors, but now the club wants five members in it and two each from Bunkerhill and Shrachi.”

Advertisement “Secondly, the club wants the board chairman to be from the club, who will run the football operations. In such an environment and under these conditions, I don’t think I can bring any investor to the club.”

He also asserted that the transfer of their portion of the shares has not yet occurred.

“As of today, 61% of the shares have not yet been transferred to us and are still allotted in the names of some club individuals. This can be checked in the ROC.” “Over the last four years, we have put in a lot of investment and hard work to bring the club to this stage. Now, in this final stage, due to some wrong expectations, this deal is not happening.”

Advertisement Mohammedan Sporting becomes the second club, following Punjab FC, to secure promotion to the ISL.

Singh added, “I am very sad to say that the coming days will be very tough and difficult for Mohammedan Sporting to participate in the ISL.

“I just extend my best of luck. They are capable of managing the club and, even in this time, they will find some solutions.” “But it is my duty to say that we had promised to play in the ISL and, for that, we worked very hard and provided the club with whatever they wanted – financial support and the right investors.

Advertisement “We were ready to participate, but under these conditions, the agreement will not be signed. The deal between Bunkerhill and Shrachi will not happen now,” he threatened.

Club general secretary Ishtiaque Ahmed, however, dismissed any apprehensions and said they would “sort this out amicably”.

“We have already agreed for Rahul Todi of Shrachi Sports to become the chairman. There was no need to put this out in a public domain. He could have just written to us and we could have sorted this out amicably,” Ahmed told news agency PTI.

“I completely understand that they have put in a lot to play ISL we will just request them to sort this out by an amicable discussion.”

Advertisement On share transfer, he said: “It’s in the process and the shares are in the escrow account it will take some time to reflect in their name.”

He further said the club just wants five members in the board of directors as “we still are the major stakeholder (39 per cent).”

“We are a fan-based club and we just can’t sell the club completely to the investors.”

(with inputs from PTI)