It is still not sure whether Mohun Bagan are going to play in Super Cup - Sony Norde

The Haitian forward supported the call for a unified league in the country saying it would be beneficial for the national team.

Amidst a chaotic situation in Indian football, where several I-League clubs refused to participate in the Super Cup initially, there was a sudden turn in the events. Mohun Bagan, who too were amongst the clubs that refused to participate in the Cup at first, decided to reverse their call and play in the tournament however at certain conditions. 

Following a series of events, the other clubs appealed to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to start the tournament all over again so that their league counterparts Minerva Punjab, Aizawl and Gokulam Kerala could play too. Nevertheless, the other clubs eventually registered to play in the Cup while Bagan are yet to do so.

While the governing body is yet to release their official statement regarding the appeal, Bagan’s talismanic forward Sony Norde revealed that the players want to participate in the Cup. Reports from The Times of India (TOI) state that Norde skipped his national team duty with Haiti who were to play their CONCACAF Nations League qualifiers against Cuba, in favour of staying with the club.

“We the players want to play in the Super Cup. We did not do well in the I-League so this will be a chance for us to make amends,” he said.

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“I spoke to the coach of the national team (Marc Collat). I told him Mohun Bagan will be playing the Super Cup and since Haiti have already qualified for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, I wanted to stay in India.”

The 29 year-old though expressed his disappointment saying, “It is a little bit disappointing for me now...Haiti won 2-1 and it is still not sure whether Mohun Bagan are going to play.”

“The officials always try to do the best for the team and if we don’t play, it will definitely be for a reason. But, I am pretty sure the officials will fight to play as they know the players want to play,” he added.

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Citing the conditions on which Bagan will play the tournament and supporting Norde’s comments, Debashis Dutta, the club’s finance secretary said, “Like the players, we are also in favour of playing. But we want to play the tournament in unified manner involving 10 I-League and Indian Super League teams.”

As per the current schedule of the Super Cup, Bagan are supposed to play Bengaluru FC in the pre-quarter final round on Sunday. The club even resumed training for the encounter since Monday albeit no final confirmation of their participation yet.