Report: Mario Rivera set to continue as head coach of East Bengal

The club's management reportedly had talks with the Spanish tactician and his assistant regarding the same.

An uneventful end to the season marked another disappointing year for East Bengal as they witnessed arch-rivals Mohun Bagan bid adieu to the I-League in a remarkable fashion as they had head coach Alejandro Menendez sacked and a certain Mario Rivera took charge at the helm.

Moreover, AIFF’s decision to prematurely conclude the season left a lot of fans disappointed as they failed to witness what could have been the last Kolkata Derby between the two legendary clubs. This season also marks the end of East Bengal’s partnership with Bengaluru-based investor Quess Corp Ltd.

With Mohun Bagan having merged with Kolkata-based ISL side ATK, plenty of questions loom over East Bengal’s entry into the Indian Super League, which is now India’s top tier football league. However, the club management have decided one thing for certain, that Mario Rivera will continue to be at the helm of affairs with East Bengal, at least for the time being.

Soon after East Bengal's I-League match against Churchill Brothers, which ended 1-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium on February 29, a team of senior club officials - Debabrata Sarkar, Rajat Guha, Saikat Ganguly as well as two former players Alvito D'Cunha and Chandan Das - held a meeting with Mario and his assistant and physical trainer Carlos Nodar at a city hotel and offered the Spanish duo to continue in team building for the next season.

A source with the knowledge of this development told The Times of India, "A few more meetings between the two parties have been held since. The club is keen on reposing faith in Mario Rivera since he has been familiar with Indian football.”

Despite the ongoing crisis due to the pandemic, the Red and Golds have been very active in the transfer market having already signed players like Balwant Singh, Gurtej Singh and many more including links to several other Indian players.

It has now been learnt that the club’s team-building plans are based on inputs from both Mario and Carlos. "As things stand now, Mario Rivera will stay as East Bengal coach in the next season. The club has sought advice from both coaches in building the team. The duo has subsequently handed a players list to the officials and the club's recent activities in team recruitment of players should be seen in this light," the source added.