Soccer buffs of the city will have a feast for their eyes later this year as a leading business group in association with Football Next Foundation, and Asia’s oldest football club, Kolkata’s very own MohunBagan, will bring a soccer extravaganza titled ‘Clash of the Legends’ to Kolkata. The FC Barcelona Legend steam will be pitted against the Legends of MohunBagan Friday, 28th September, 2018 in Kolkata. A host of world cuppers are expected to be featured in the Barcelona Legends line up.
“The history of both the clubs date back to more than a century. FC Barcelona was founded in 1899, and the Indian club was also founded in 1889. Hence we match each other in the legacy. It will be our honour to face a club that is rated amongst the topmost clubs in the world. We might not match them in terms of the heavy weight world cuppers and footballers they have, but we are no less in terms of the rich football history we have. We thank the Sports Department, Government of West Bengal for their support in this venture,” told Mr. Anjan Mitra, Honorary Secretary, MohunBagan AC.
“This is the first time in India that a real estate brand is presenting a match played with an international football team of the stature of FC Barcelona. We want to promote football in the State and also the country at large. We also want to develop sports infrastructure in the city for the development of sports at state level and extend this pan India over a period of times. We wish to bring hidden sports talents from the lower level of the society to the limelight,” said Mr. Saket Mohta, Joint Managing Director of that business group.
Former Mohun Bagan and India striker Sisir Ghosh told the media that the club is planning to have its own legends team. “We are exploring this option of setting up our own legends team which can play various exhibition and charity matches throughout the year,” said Sisir, who now heads Mohun Bagan’s newly-formed technical committee. He also informed that former club captain and Brazilian striker Jose Ramirez Barreto will also play for the green-and-maroon team against the Barca veterans.
“It has always been my dream to provide our city with the best footballing experience and what can be better than having one of the best football teams in the world play against the National Club of India. Football Next Foundation has been tirelessly working for the development of the sport in the country and would continue to do so,” revealed Mr. Kaushik Moulik, Founder, Football Next Foundation, the brain behind bringing FC Barcelona legends to the city. The author of ‘Bayern Factor: An Untold Story’, Mr. Moulik brought the very famous goalkeeper and the FIFA Golden Ball winner Oliver Kahn to India to play his farewell match against Mohun Bagan in 2008. The whole Bayern Munich team came to Kolkata at that time with the German Legend.
A series of activities including a charity auction dinner have been planned prior to the match taking place. The proceeds of the match will be donated to Liver Foundation.
This is definitely a big step forward for Indian football.
> Pratyusha Mukherjee, Calcutta , India
