Murmurs of India's football-crazy Kolkata public giving a cold shoulder to Atletico de Kolkata may well stem from talk of a possibility of more than one franchise representing the city in the Indian Super League in the near future, lamented owner Sanjiv Goenka.
The All India Football Federation has been floating the idea of merging the domestic I-League and the ISL, which could possibly mean that Kolkata could also have their iconic clubs, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan competing in the league. However, for the next two years atleast, no city can have more than one representative.
Goenka opines that AIFF's proposal may have made the average ATK fan look elsewhere, “That has definitely impacted the fan following. In the past, the fans looked at it as a Kolkata team, everyone was united by Atletico de Kolkata. Now, there is no longer that unified feeling. So while the popularity of the league has grown, that of ATK has suffered as a result,” Goenka was quoted as saying in a Hindustan Times report. “I don’t know what is going to happen but if my views are sought on this, I’ll say I’m not in favour of two teams from Kolkata,” he said.
Goenka said that the franchise has incurred heavy losses from moving to the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium this season, which has a capacity of 12,000. The Salt Lake Stadiums, where ATK played for the first two seasons, had a stadium capacity of 65,000 but is being readied for the FIFA U-17 World Cup next year, “I’ve lost Rs 3 crore in sponsorship and Rs 3-4 crore in gate receipts. My total loss is Rs 15 crore above what is projected for this season,” Goenka said.
Goenka, though, was happy with unity he has seen in his time and hinted as at possible unrest behind the scenes, despite the side winning the tournament in the first edition and reaching the semi-final in ISL 2, “This time there is complete harmony, no politics in the dressing room. This is the first time I am getting the feeling that the entire team is playing for the club," Goenka added.
