Mohun Bagan on Friday have assured players that the club will clear the salary dues in two installments, but the Kolkata giants have decided against reopening the club tent in the wake of the spike in COVID-19 cases in the city.
The I-League winners said that they will pay fifty per cent of the dues by June 30 and the remainder will be paid on or before July 20 as part of the second installment. Mohun Bagan have merged with Indian Super League (ISL) champions ATK.
Mohun Bagan were officially crowned as the winners of the in the 2019-20 I-League season in April after the remaining 28 matches of the league were cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
In a letter addressed to the players, the club assured them that their pending salaries will be paid along with the bonuses that were promised for winning the I-League title.
"As per our commitment, we will be clearing all the dues to the players in the near future. We propose to pay 50 per cent of your pending salaries by June 30, 2020 and the rest 50 per cent on or before July 20, 2020," the letter read.
"We will also process the bonuses within 15 days of receiving the prize money and season subsidies from AIFF (All India Football Federation). We are following up on this issue with AIFF on a regular basis," it said.
Meanwhile, Kolkata has recorded over 1,000 COVID-19 cases in the past 10 days, even as the number of positive patients in Bengal surged past the 10,000 mark on Friday.
The grim development has forced the Mariners' to defer opening the club tent, which was previously scheduled to reopen from Monday. However, their merchandise would be available online and the details of the sale would be updated, the club said.
In said in a statement Mohun Bagan said: "The situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic is very serious and the rate of infected people is drastically increasing everyday. We regret to inform you that in view of the prevailing situation and for the safety of all our members and supporters, the club management has decided not to open the club tent from Monday."
"We are keeping a close watch on the situation and will do periodical review," it said.
The situation has also delayed the launch of the merged entity, which is likely to be named as ATK-Mohun Bagan.
The merged entity was slated for a June 1 launch but due to the pandemic, but the respective Boards' meeting has not yet taken place.
Sanjiv Goenka-owned RPSG Group has acquired a majority stake of 80 per cent in Mohun Bagan.
(With inputs from agencies)
