Mohammedan Sporting runs into investors trouble just days after confirming ISL 2024-25 participation

The newest club in the Indian Super League (ISL) season 2024-25 Mohammedan Sporting has run into trouble after their principal investors Bunkerhill Private Limited are on the verge of calling off their deal.

According to the founder and chairman of Bunkerhill Dipak Kumar Singh the deal is now off due to ‘wrong expectations’.

However, sources in the club are confident of reaching an agreement through ‘amicable discussions’.

Mohammedan Sporting earned their promotion to the ISL after winning the I-League 2023-24 season.

The organisers of the ISL confirmed Mohammedan Sporting’s entry into the ISL and the Kolkata-based club is scheduled to play their first match against NorthEast United FC on September 16 in Kolkata.

Bunkerhill has a 61% stake in Mohammedan Sporting after a deal in 2020. However, after Mohammedan Sporting got Shrachi Sports as a new investor, the two firms agreed to split shares with 30.5% each. A term sheet was signed between the two parties earlier this month.

However, Singh said the deal is not happening due to ‘wrong expectations’. In a video message on social media, Singh said the club made several changes after signing the term sheet and that was not acceptable. “I have a message from Bunkerhill side. We had made a deal with Shrachi Sports regarding investment in ISL. A term sheet was signed on that basis. When it came to the final agreement, the club made several changes that were not acceptable. Originally, it was planned that all three parties have two members each in the Board of directors, but now the club wants five members in it and two each from Bunkerhill and Shrachi,” he said.

Singh added that a hostile environment has been created and shares have also not been transferred to them. “Secondly, the club wants the board chairman to be from the club, who will run the football operations. In such an environment and under these conditions, I don’t think I can bring any investor to the club. As of today, 61% of the shares have not yet been transferred to us and are still allotted in the names of some club individuals. This can be checked in the ROC. Over the last four years, we have put in a lot of investment and hard work to bring the club to this stage. Now, in this final stage, due to some wrong expectations, this deal is not happening,” he explained.

He added that the coming days are tough for Mohammedan Sporting to play and reiterated that under the conditions laid out the deal is not going through. “I am very sad to say that the coming days will be very tough and difficult for Mohammedan Sporting to participate in the ISL. I extend my best wishes. They are capable of managing the club and, even in this time, they will find some solutions. But it is my duty to say that we had promised to play in the ISL and for that we worked very hard and provided the club with whatever they wanted like financial support and the right investors. We were ready to participate, but under these conditions, the agreement will not be signed. The deal between Bunkerhill and Shrachi will not happen now,” he concluded.