What went wrong with Mohammedan's ISL season debut

Mohammedan Sporting Club’s long-awaited entry into the Indian Super League (ISL) after clinching the I-League title was a moment of immense pride for its legions of fans. With a win and a draw in their first three matches, the 125-year-old club’s debut showed promise, sparking hopes of a strong presence in Indian football’s top tier.

But that early optimism soon unravelled. Behind-the-scenes tensions between club officials and investors over share transfers simmered from the start of the season. The situation became public in January when players, frustrated by unpaid salaries, boycotted training ahead of a home clash against Chennaiyin FC.

On January 21, Bunker Hill Private Limited, a key investor since 2020, announced they had not received their promised 61% stake in Mohammedan Sporting Club Pvt. Ltd. and threatened to withdraw if the shares weren't transferred.

Following this, another stakeholder, Shrachi Sports, also stated that they hadn’t received any shares either. Shrachi, which had purchased a portion of those 61 per cent shares from Bunker Hill, echoed similar grievances, revealing they had already injected 50 per cent of their committed funds but the current uncertainty had left them unable to proceed.

Despite emergency meetings aimed at damage control, the resignation of head coach Andrey Chernyshov on January 29 over unpaid wages laid bare the turmoil.

The club lost its way on the field as well, failing to register a single win after the departure of Chernyshov and ultimately finishing last in the league. With no relegation this time, fans of the black and white brigade hoped that their favourite club would resolve all issues and come back stronger the next season.

That hope took a hit last week when ISL governing body FSDL issued a stern letter questioning the club’s financial stability and the unresolved disputes with its investors. The letter also flagged Mohammedan’s failure to pay wages to players and support staff and insure some youth players in the Reliance Development Football League.

The Kolkata-based club has been given till April 11 to respond with a detailed plan about who their bank guarantor will be if the investors decide to pull out before the next season of ISL. The club has also been asked to submit a complete statement of outstanding dues. Failing to do so could mean expulsion from the ISL.

The club officials though remained optimistic that they would resolve the issues soon. Speaking to a local Bengali media platform, Mohammedan general secretary Ishtiaque Ahmed Raju said that the club had almost finalised an agreement with the investors.

“The FSDL sent us a letter which was in response to a letter sent by Shrachi to them. We didn’t under,” Ahmed said. “We will talk to our investors about this letter and will solve the issues and then the FSDL’s letter would be irrelevant.”

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