The City Football Group (CFG), owners of England and European giants Manchester City and multiple other clubs around the world, confirmed via a joint statement with Mumbai City FC that it has parted ways with the latter due to the uncertainty around the future of the Indian Super League (ISL). Mumbai City had earlier informed the All India Football Federation of the CFG selling its 65 percent shares to the club’s parent company Mumbai City Football India Pvt Ltd, which is co-owned by Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor and chartered accountant Bimal Parekh.
“Mumbai City FC can confirm that City Football Group Limited has divested its shareholding in the club. The founding owners will assume full control of the organisation moving forward,” said the statement.
“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). This step reflects CFG’s disciplined and strategic approach – ensuring its focus remains on areas where it can have the greatest long-term impact.”
CFG had announced Mumbai City as its newest acquisition in November 2019. Among other clubs in its portfolio included teams in Spain (Girona), Belgium (Lommel), the USA (New York City), Australia (Melbourne City), Japan (Yokohama), China (Shenzhen), Uruguay (Montevideo) and Brazil (Bahia), among others.
The entry of the group into the fray transformed Mumbai City, at the time little more than a club competing for mid-table finishes. They won the ISL title twice in 2020-21 and 2023-24, and won the league shield once in 2022-23.
No end in sight to Indian football paralysis
Meanwhile, there is no end in sight for now to the uncertainty that has paralysed Indian football. There has been no league action in the country since the the last ISL season ended on April 12. And unless some solution is arrived at during the meetings between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the ISL clubs on December 26 and 29, the wait could only get longer.
All of this stems from the AIFF and its commercial partner FSDL, a subsidiary of the Reliance Industries Limited, being unable to renew a Master Rights Agreement that had been in place since December 2010 and ended this month. The agreement was the basis on which the ISL ran. When the AIFF went looking for a new partner, it found out that no one was willing to invest in Indian football — this was partly because of a Supreme Court order, which gave the investors limited say in operational matters.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd