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NEW DELHI — Last Friday, 133-year-old football club Mohammedan Sporting clinched their maiden I-League title to earn a promotion to the prestigious Indian Super League (ISL).
Needing only a draw against Shillong Lajong FC, the once Kolkata giants won 2-1 in an away fixture for a ticket to the coveted championship with one game to spare, subject to fulfilling the Indian Club Licensing System Premier 1 criteria.
Speaking to IANS, Dipendu Biswas, the former India striker and present technical director of Mohammedan, sounded confident that they will be able to fulfil all the licensing criteria laid down by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Football Sports Development Ltd. (FSDL), which runs the ISL.
“As far as I know, we will be able to fulfil all the criteria laid down by the AIFF and FSDL, including the INR 100 crore bank guarantee clause,” said Dipendu, who has steered the club through several ups and downs.
Dipendu also sounded confident that the Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) will be the home ground of Mohammedan in the ISL.
“Yes, we will use Yuba Bharati Krirangan as our home ground,” said Dipendu, who reunited with Mohammedan as technical director during the Covid pandemic in 2019, four years after hanging his boots in the same tent.
When informed about a recent media report claiming there will be huge pressure on the ground if Mohammedan also want to make it their home ground, Dipendu said they also have the same number of supporters like East Bengal or Mohun Bagan, which use the stadium as their home ground.
“See, the number of supporters Mohammedan have is on par with East Bengal or Mohun Bangan. So, there is no question of thinking about some other ground. We will make Yuba Bharati our home ground. If two teams can play there, a third team could also be accommodated,” said Dipendu.
“We will also play our last I-League match at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan on April 13. That way they (AIFF, FSDL) will also be able to see the number of supporters we enjoy. We expect more than 60,000 people to throng the stadium on Saturday,” said Dipendu, who played for all three Kolkata big-wigs -- Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, and Mohammedan SC -- after graduating from the Tata Football Academy.
“Also, as far as I know, there is no other ground here which can meet the criteria laid down by the FSDL,” Dipendu concluded.