Former India football captain Baichung Bhutia yesterday said if only the chit fund scam had been unearthed earlier, teams like his United Sikkim would have hired good players on realistic salaries.
Bhutia, who recently took over as chairman of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) technical committee, feels that Kolkata-based I-League clubs were hit hard by the scam as they received huge sums of money from some of the chit fund companies, while clubs outside West Bengal were lucky not to have been affected.
Baichung Bhutia
ADVERTISEMENT
“Luckily, we have stayed away from all this. It’s only the Kolkata clubs that are in trouble,” said Bhutia on the sidelines of the Pepsico-AFDP “Kick for Hope” programme launch.
Kolkata’s United SC were the biggest spenders in the last season with a budget of Rs 17 crore. But United are now facing an uncertain future as their principal sponsor Prayag is one of the 70 chit-fund companies under the scanner of Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
The collapse of the Saradha Group not only affected thousands of investors in West Bengal, but also Kolkata’s two big clubs East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. Though the chief sponsors of both the clubs is United Breweries, most chit fund companies are their associate sponsors.
The Saradha Group had invested Rs 1.8 crore in Mohun Bagan and Rs 3.5 crore in East Bengal since 2010-11. Another chit fund company, Rose Valley, which is also under the government lens, is an associate sponsor of East Bengal.
Smaller clubs, playing in the Kolkata League, also benefitted from the chit fund scam. u00a0“I am sure it is a concern for the football clubs in India and I sincerely hope the exaggerated salaries would come down to a realistic level,” he said.
With two games remaining in the I-League season, United Sikkim are at the bottom of the table and staring at relegation to division two. “Nathan Hall (coach) tried his best. I feel sorry for the players because this is their livelihood. We are hoping for good results and that they stay motivated,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bhutia, the current chairman of the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) technical committee said he wanted to make the committee more active.
“My biggest challenge is to do some real work. We want to to utilise the powers we have,” he added.u00a0
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
