I-League 2018: Mohun Bagan announce Swapan Banerjee as new football secretary 

What's the story?

Mohun Bagan have roped in Swapan Banerjee, as the new football secretary. The Mariners have also brought in Major General Kartik Kumar Ganguly on board as the Assistant Secretary.

In addition, Sishir Ghosh, Saroj Banerjee and advocate Aurobindo Sen were drafted into the executive committee as special invitees.

In case you didn't know...

21 members from the Mohun Bagan executive committee resigned a couple of weeks ago owing up to disappointment over club secretary Anjan Kumar Mitra and treasurer Madan Mohan Dutta's "incompetence" over exonerating the club from a debt of Rs 3 crore along with other instances of alleged unprofessionalism.

The heart of the matter

The Kolkata-based club, under general secretary Anjan Mitra, called up a meeting at the club premises on Friday to appoint new names to the vacant positions of the executive committee.

The position of the football secretary was lying vacant after former Mohun Bagan player Satyajit Chatterjee resigned on April 30. Reports suggest that Bidesh Basu, whose resignation from the technical committee earlier was not accepted by Mitra, was approached by the latter himself for the position, which he duly refused.

Former Mohun Bagan player Sishir Ghosh was also approached but as he was associated with several sports bodies, and there was a chance of a conflict of interest. Hence, the current ground secretary Swapan Banerjee made the cut for the new football secretary.

"It is a huge responsibility to be the football secretary of Mohun Bagan. I will keep no stone unturned to bring success to the club," Banerjee said after his appointment.

Mitra also promised that Mohun Bagan Athletic Club will pay off a debt of Rs 45 lakh to Mohun Bagan Football Club Pvt Ltd. The Green and Maroons have received amounts of Rs 1 crore each from their former president and the sponsors for the upcoming season.

What's next?

Reports also suggest that Amitava Sarkar would be announced as the Financial Secretary within a few days.

Author's Take

The Mariners executive committee is undergoing a turmoil after differences among the former and current members regarding management and financial issues. It will be interesting to see how Mitra copes with the situation until the next elections.

Former assistant general secretary Srinjoy Bose and former financial secretary Debashish Dutta would surely keep a close eye on the events and would look to come back to power after the Club Elections, slated to take place after the upcoming Calcutta Football League (CFL).