When East Bengal took on and lost to Mohun Bagan on Sunday, they were calling it the last Kolkata derby in the I-League. For 97 years, this fixture endured what time threw at it. Now, its future looks grim. Stripped of players, eyeballs and sponsors by the Indian Super League, the I-League appears to be on its last legs. While the success of the smaller teams—the league is currently led by Minerva Punjab from Chandigarh and NEROCA FC from Imphal—warms the cockles, the pull-out of Bengaluru FC and the underperformance of the Kolkata clubs have certainly affected the brand. And with talks of a merger doing the rounds, the I-League may only be months away from extinction.
There are two ways this could play out. The first is that things stand as they are and the ISL becomes the top tier, with the I-League as tier 2. The second is that a limited merger takes place—three to four teams including the Kolkata duo make their way to the ISL with the All India Football Federation cobbling together the remaining I-League teams and a few from division two to form an expanded second tier. Either way, it is a loss for the derby. On paper, a Kolkata derby in the ISL looks like a win-win for everyone. The ISL will gain legitimacy by adding a century-old fixture in its calendar. The derby, though, will lose a lot of what makes it special. The organic fervour that makes it a match to behold will be diluted by the plastic passion that IMG-Reliance and Star Sports drum up.
The other option will prove to be more catastrophic. Crowds will still turn up for the game even if it is in the second division. But it will no longer be able to lay claim to being the biggest fixture on the Indian football calendar. The Kolkata clubs are already far from being financially stable enterprises. A forced relegation might just push them over the edge. It is up to the men who rule Indian football to ensure that the last I-League derby doesn’t end up being the last derby of consequence.