Mohun Bagan president Swapan Sadhan Bose resigns from his position

What's the story?

Swapan Sadhan Bose, President of Mohun Bagan, resigned from his position through a letter addressed to club’s general secretary, Anjan Mitra. As per the letter, he cited health reasons for his resignation.

In the letter of resignation, he had mentioned, “With every passing day, my health is deteriorating further and I think with this condition I am not doing justice to the chair of our beloved club” and in that vein continued to accept his plea with “immediate effect”.

He added, “I am feeling really bad about this. But everything has to recourse to its natural end. I would like to assure you that I am still available with the club and will support it in any way possible.”

The context

When the club was struggling to secure a desired sponsor for the last three seasons, it was Bose who came to the rescue with private funding of the entire functioning of the club.

Bose is also a Member of the Rajya Sabha, representing West Bengal.

Having entered the management of the prestigious Mohun Bagan in 1989, he became the club's general secretary in his debut year and was appointed as the president in the year 1995.

The heart of the matter

The letter was sent forward to the concerned authorities by Mohun Bagan assistant secretary Srinjoy Bose who also happens to be Bose’s son. He will continue to function in his current capacity.

The club has been in disarray after a disappointing season, and head coach Sanjoy Sen is on the brink of leaving as well. With Bose's resignation, Bagan has found itself in a state of limbo.

What's next?

This is not the first time that Bose has handed his resignation – he had done so in 2015 as well along with Mitra. The reason then was the five-year trophy drought that the club had to withstand. But in elections held soon after, they were re-instated.

What events unfold after this remains to be seen, but Mohun Bagan clearly need to sort themselves out or risk being consigned to oblivion by the new forces of Indian football.

Author's take

It was known for quite a while that Bose had been voicing his grievance that he was not able to continue pumping money into the club and this time around, he seems to be adamant in his decision.