Not having majority stake in ATK restrained development of club's image, reveals Atlético Madrid CEO

PTI

New Delhi: Atlético de Madrid CEO Miguel Ángel Gil in an interview to club's official website revealed the real reason why the Kolkata-based franchise and the La Liga club parted ways, few months ahead of the Indian Super League 2017.

It has been almost over a week since the club's principal owner Sanjiv Goenka took to media to announce that Atletico Madrid and ATK would no longer be together.

"Atletico Madrid and ATK have come to an agreement that they (the former) would not be a part of ATK going forward. We had a good relationship. We continue to be friends," said Goenka.

However in a recent interview to the club's official website, Gill informed that the La Liga club wasn't a majority stakeholder in ATK, thereby acting as a hindrance in strengthening the club's image through the Kolkata-based franchise in India. The former La Liga champion and UEFA Champions League runners-up hold just 25 per cent stake.

"We are going to promote those franchises where Atlético has the majority of the capital that allows it to be able to develop the image of Atlético de Madrid through its Academy and the work in professional football," said Marin

"This means putting an immediate stop to the franchise in India, since the majority holder of Atlético Kolkata does not allow the development of the image of Atlético de Madrid through our Academy in India," he continued.

However, Marin did praise the nation and the immense amount of potential it has, but they failed to work out thngs at the grassroot level.

"India is an incredible country, with a great potential. Atlético has done a great job in Calcutta. We have managed to make Atlético de Madrid loved and recognised, but we need to develop it there, working, in addition to a professional team, with the children, through our Academy. And this is something that we cannot do with the majority shareholder of the franchise. But we want to continue being close to all the fans of Calcutta and of the whole of India," he concluded.

Reports also revealed that the Kolkata-based franchise will continue into ISL 2018 as ATK with the full form standing as Amar Tomar Kolkata.

The fourth season of ISL is slated to kick-off from November 19 with this edition featuring two debutants – Jamshedpur FC and Bengaluru FC.