Fans ask Kapil Dev to boycott East Bengal's foundation day

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Kolkata: On the eve of East Bengal`s foundation day, social media enthusiasts urged cricket legend Kapil Dev to boycott the club`s function where he will be conferred their highest honor, Bharat Gaurav. On Wednesday morning, Twitter was awash with "#KapilDevBoycottEB" trending for long periods.

Twitter users referred to East Bengal`s poor handling of footballers, the latest being the unprofessional behavior against Joby Justin. Mentions were also made of title sponsors Quess Corp severing ties with the club after a fall-out between them and the outfit`s board members.

"Never thought legend like @therealkapildev sir will ruin his own reputation by associating with these goons ??!!" a Twitter user wrote using the hashtag "#KapilDevBoycottEB".

"Cricket legend @therealKapilDev sinking himself to a new low if he associates himself with a club that is an embarrassment to the nation & sports," tweeted another user.

Kapil, who led India to its first-ever World Cup in 1983 and is one of the greatest all-rounders to have ever played the game, is scheduled to land in the city on Thursday morning.

"Kapil Dev is coming. He will be here by tomorrow morning. We don`t know about any Twitter trend. We would prefer to ignore them," a top East Bengal official told IANS.

Kapil had signed for East Bengal on June 22, 1992, and played for 27 minutes six days later as a substitute forward in an exhibition match against arch-rivals Mohun Bagan.