East Bengal vs Manchester United friendly hits financial hurdle

East Bengal is keen to host Premier League giant Manchester United for a friendly clash later this year and is now looking for sponsors to make it happen.

The proposed East Bengal vs Manchester United friendly game is estimated to cost more than Rs. 30 crore.

I-League club East Bengal is keen to host English Premier League giant Manchester United for a friendly clash later this year, but is now actively looking for sponsors to make it happen.

A Manchester United delegation did a recce for the match and had visited the Salt Lake Stadium last year, planned as per East Bengal's ongoing centenary celebrations, but with the budget estimated to be upwards of Rs. 30 crore, East Bengal is now in a quandary.

“They are happy and have submitted the report after the inspection. After May we can decide whether they would play or not. As of now we are busy with finding a new investors,” East Bengal executive member Debabrata Sarkar told PTI .

Having severed ties with current sponsors Quess Corp, who are set to leave after the end of the season, East Bengal is desperately looking for sponsors.

East Bengal is going through a rough patch on the field in the ongoing I-League season too, having suffered four defeats from five matches, including a derby debacle to slip to the seventh spot in the table.