'Ganguly already co-owner, so eligible to become director of ATK-MB'

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly is eligible to be one of the directors of the merged Indian Super League (ISL) franchise ATK-Mohun Bagan ahead of the upcoming season, by virtue of him being one of the team co-owners.

There have been reports in the media that Ganguly has been named as one of the directors of the merged franchise, but as per a senior official it is not a new development.

"Ganguly is one of the team co-owners. There is no change as such and there is nothing new to this. He is eligible to become a director. Just because it is a merged entity now, these haven't changed. He is still the co-owner," the official told IANS.

During  registration with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs last month, the new franchise named five directors -- ATK co-owner Utsav Parekh, Mohun Bagan pair of Srinjoy Bose and Debashish Dutta along with two other members Gautam Ray and Sanjeev Mehra.

The board, led by chairman Sanjiv Goneka, will meet on July 10 via video conference and among other discussions, the club's name, jersey and logo is expected to be on the agenda too, an official close to the development said.

"The board is meeting on July 10 and further decisions will be taken there. A board has a lot to discuss and plan for the whole year, and among them talks of the club's name, jersey and logo can come up for discussion," he added.

"Sanjiv Goenka will remain principal owner of the merged entity and Sourav Ganguly will remain co-owner. There has been no change in that, so he is eligible to become a director, simple."

Mohun Bagan had joined forces with ISL champions ATK as a merged entity which started from June 1.

In the merged entity, ATK, the original ISL franchise owned by Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG Group, have 80 per cent stake while the remaining 20 per cent is with Mohun Bagan, who bagged the I-League title with four rounds to spare.

ATK are the current ISL champions, winning the title a record third time last season.