Neeta Ambani: East Bengal's entry will open door for opportunities

Nita Ambani Founder and Chairperson Football Sports Development Limited FSDL on Sunday announced the expansion of the Indian Super League ISL by welcoming East Bengal FC into the seventh edition of Indias topflight competitionFollowing Shree Cement East Bengal Foundation acquisition of the majority stake in East Bengal club and their successful bid the club will embark on its maiden ISL journey as the eleventh team in the competitionIt is such a happy and proud moment for ISL as we welcome East Bengal FC and their millions of fans into the League The inclusion of both legacy clubs ie East Bengal and Mohun Bagan now ATK Mohun Bagan opens limitless possibilities for Indian football especially for talent development in the state Nita Ambani said in an official statementWest Bengal has made an immense contribution to the growth of the beautiful game in India ISLs growing footprint in the state and across India is yet another step towards our mission of building a competitive and robust football ecosystem in the country she addedOn September 2 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had confirmed that football giants East Bengal will join archrivals Mohun Bagan in the Indian Super League ISLSpeaking during a press conference the Chief Minister had said that it was important to ensure that a club of East Bengals stature does not miss out on playing in the premier league of the countryWe are proud of Bengals football East Bengal was almost missing out on playing in the ISL Mohun Bagan had made an agreement but there was uncertainty about East Bengal East Bengal has been trying its best but there has also been the coronavirus pandemicDespite all the hurdles we did not want that East Bengal EB should not get to play in the ISL after having such a rich history We did not want the fans to miss out We love Mohun Bagan East Bengal Mohammedan Sporting everyone she had saidEast Bengal was almost certain to miss being a part of the seventh edition of the ISL after FSDLs meeting with the clubs in July highlighted how the organisers had presented the roadmap for the upcoming season with 10 teams on the mindFootball Sports Development Limiteds presentation made it clear that there was no scope of an increase in the number of teams as far as the 202021 season was concerned Defending champions ATK had in January announced the merger with Mohun Bagan and the newly merged entity was named ATKMohun BaganThe team in its first board meeting decided to retain the green and maroon jersey and that pleased the fans as it has been synonymous with the iconic club The clubs logo was also retained with the addition of ATK to the boatKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever