Mumbai: With great pomp and celebration, Mumbai City FC announced that the City Football Group (CFG) had acquired a majority stake in the club’s ownership in 2019. CFG, which owns English football giants Manchester City, along with 11 other football clubs across Asia, the Americas, and Australia, had entered the Indian market.
That association lasted six years and was brought to an abrupt end courtesy the crisis Indian football has struggled with over the last six months. The unprecedented delay in the new season (generally seasons begin in September-October, but this time it began on February 14) caused several clubs to halt operations. Mumbai City lost the expertise of CFG, which had led the team to each of its four major titles – the ISL Shield in 2020-21 and 2022-23, and the ISL Cup in 2020-21 and 2023-24.
“They way it’s panned out has been very unfortunate,” Mumbai City CEO Kandarp Chandra said to HT. “It was a very valuable for us because when they came in, we were a mid-table team. CFG brought in a lot of tech (technical analysis) to help us improve. What was happening prior to CFG was that we were changing managers, like that’s the nature of the ISL and other football clubs as well, but we didn’t have a standard philosophy as to how we wanted to play.”
With CFG calling the shots and providing their expertise, the Mumbai team had become one of the most watchable teams in the league. Playing an attractive brand of attacking football, the team set an 18-match unbeaten record en route to winning the league title.
“We changed three managers under CFG as well, but that consistency stayed,” Chandra said.
“Their biggest strength to Mumbai City was football expertise, how we were reading the game, how we were selecting players, how we were doing injury management, how we were testing players. I think most of it was in the back end of how you’re sort of structuring yourself as a football team.”
From being an under-achieving team, CFG transformed the club to become one of the leading lights in the current Indian football setup. Then came the off-field chaos in which the All India Football Federation (AIFF) failed to renew its Master Rights Agreement with Reliance-owned Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) on time.
The delay in renewal caused the season to be delayed indefinitely, and it took the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to step in to get the truncated 13-match season underway on February 14.
By December however, CFG took the decision to end ties with the club, handing back their 65 percent stake in the club back to the original owners Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh.
“CFG has made this decision following a comprehensive commercial review and in light of the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of the Indian Super League (ISL),” the club said in a statement published on their website. “This step reflects CFG’s disciplined and strategic approach – ensuring its focus remains on areas where it can have the greatest long-term impact.”
In other words, CFG found no sustainable future in the way Indian football was being administered.
Asked if this was a blow to not just Mumbai City, but Indian football in general, Chandra said: “Absolutely it is. They are pioneers in a multi-club system. Having such an important partner leave, not just for Mumbai City, all other clubs in the ISL were pretty vocal. (Other clubs) made it pretty clear that it’s a big blow for Indian football.”
Mumbai City began their campaign with a narrow 1-0 win over Chennaiyin FC at home on Thursday. The season has begun without the biggest backer the club has ever had. What remains though is a blueprint of how to win.
“It’s very clear from the owners now, Bimal and Ranbir, that the club existed before CFG,” Chandra said.
“The club continues to exist after CFG in the current season. And we hope to exist in the future as well, if Indian football and the ISL continues to exist. What the future looks like, we’re still working towards that collectively with the (AIFF), clubs and everyone together.”
For the time being, Mumbai City and the ISL are living in hope.
