Sourav Ganguly merges Mohun Bagan with ATK's ISL win in 2014, sparks Controversy among Fans

Add as a preferred source on Google

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has sparked controversy with a probably unintended statement regarding Mohun Bagan Super Giant.

Mohun Bagan, a century old club of Kolkata, has been at their pinnacle in recent times. After winning the ISL shield last year, the Mariners have completed an excellent double silverware in this season as well.

Mohun Bagan have been superb across all season and will be aiming to continue their prowess in the upcoming Kalinga Super Cup. Amid this, Ganguly, who is known to be a Mohun Bagan supporter, has sparked questions with his comparison of the club with ATK, a team with which Mohun Bagan merged.

In the initial years of ISL, ATK (Atletico de Kolkata) was a different entity. But in 2020, ATK merged with Mohun Bagan and became ATK Mohun Bagan, which created massive controversy among fans of the traditional club.

There were multiple protests from the supporters who rallied together to remove the name ATK from the prefix of their club. The current owner Sanjiv Goenka finally met the demands a couple of seasons ago when he rechristened it to Mohun Bagan Super Giant, a much more accepted one for the fans.

Amid this, Sourav's current words have created grievance amongst fans. On Tuesday, Sourav went at the Mohun Bagan club, where he was asked about the club. While answering, the former India captain praised the club, saying, "We (Mohun Bagan) are a superb club. In the ISL, we are winning trophies from the very first season."

Now Ganguly comparing Mohun Bagan with ATK in 2014 has angered a section of fans, who are quite clear about their distance from ATK. MyKhel spoke with a few supporters who bashed the former India captain for his comments, while some decided to just ignore it.

"Mohun Bagan ATK Mani na, aar ATK je Mohun Bagan setao mani na.. Sourav ja boleche boluk.. Amra somorthok ra taa bolchi na (We don't entertain the idea that Mohun Bagan is ATK or vice versa. Whatever Sourav has said he can say, we supporters don't agree to that)," said Mrinmoy Kayal, an ardent MBSG fan who attended their final victory at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

"Sourav was the owner of Atletico at that time, but he mustn't associate that with Mohun Bagan," said another fan named Dipayan Patra.

All in all, Mohun Bagan's faithful are not at all amused about Ganguly associating them with ATK. Although the prefix has erased, but can they ever deny the connection?