New Delhi, July 13 With legendary club Mohun Bagan now becoming ATK Mohun Bagan to ply its trade in the Indian Super League (ISL), football fans in the country seem to be wanting their cross-town rivals East Bengal to reignite their rivalry in a new avatar altogether.
Parth Jindal, director of JSW Sports, recently tweeted about wanting to see EB in the ISL and that set the rumour mills running across the country.
His post read: "Come on East Bengal FC, come in to the Indian Super League now already - your the only thing missing from the league now. (sic)"
But before more such rumours started to do the rounds, Bengaluru FC CEO Mandar Tamhane has revealed that JSW aren't looking to invest in the iconic club to bring it into the ISL. But he insisted that they would like to see East Bengal in the ISL to increase the rivalry amongst top teams in the league.
"We are definitely not investing in East Bengal and we would definitely not like to invest in East Bengal," Tamhane told reporters via Zoom on Monday.
"What we would like is if they could be a part of Indian Super League, we would be more than happy because that would improve the kind of a rivalry between the clubs that are involved.
"But that entirely depends on them and not on us. So we will definitely won't be investing in them," he added.
Tamhane made these revelations on the sidelines of announcement of a scholarship program started by The Sports School, in association with Bengaluru FC.
The scholarships, covering both sports and academics, will be offered to students in the U-13, U-15, and U-18 age categories.
"Our association with The Sports School has enabled us to see a lot more children who have potential in the sport, and this scholarship program is one of our most important initiatives as a club," Tamhane said.
"Our aim has always been to ensure that players who can make it to the top are given a clear pathway to do so."
( With inputs from IANS )