'At one point, Kerala Blasters was going to shut down,' says CEO

Kerala Blasters CEO Abhik Chatterjee said the club 'seriously considered' shutting down due to an economic crisis caused by uncertainty over the Indian Super League (ISL) season.

"There was a point when Kerala Blasters was going to shut down. It was seriously under consideration," Abhik Chatterjee said in Kochi on Wednesday.

The statement comes four days before the start of a much-delayed ISL season. The league, scheduled to begin in September, was dragged into a period of uncertainty after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner, FSDL, failed to renew their deal. In the absence of a commercial deal and television revenue, the participating clubs were forced to release the majority of their top players and staff and cut down on expenses to sustain.

Chatterjee said while all clubs in the ISL were affected by the unprecedented situation, the Blasters were left in an 'economical bloodbath'.

"There's been about 300 per cent drop in financials and that impacts the budgets that teams have to bring in players.

"When you're receiving revenue from some sources. This was supposed to be the first year for the eight founding clubs to not pay a franchise fee and just receive the central pool revenue. But that is wiped to zero. Sponsorships, obviously, in this environment are 10-20% to what we have in a normal season."

"Every club runs differently. Some are backed by conglomerates, some have single owners. So every club owners' financial capacity to deal with the situation is different.

"There was a point where it was in serious consideration that we don't have the bandwidth to take it on. That discussion (to shut down the club) happened as well."

Sacrifices to survive 
Chatterjee said almost 80 per cent of the clubs participating in the ISL have undergone a reset to sustain. 

"Whatever the teams are paying to bring in players, I can assure you that they are not paying a lot of money. There are no big-money moves being made in India at the moment in Indian football," Chatterjee said.

"This year, all the clubs came together and decided Indian football needs continuity. All the clubs are putting in money to run the league, the federation is putting in money to run the league. It is an exception to whatever has happened so far. There is heavy financial bleeding."

The Blasters were among a handful of clubs that temporarily suspended the first-team operations and sent the players and staff home during the period of stalemate. Abhik said the realisation that the club means something for the fans stopped the management from shutting down operations altogether.

"Two things stopped us from doing that. One, you sort of eventually realise what this club means to the people, to the fans. You realise how many emotions are joined to the club. You realise how many players will lose opportunities when that happens.

"So the decision to participate was a difficult one, but taken keeping the ecosystem in mind. But it is a genuine struggle. Economically, it is a bloodbath at the moment. 

"The main aim this season is to live to fight another day. Everybody at the club has made huge sacrifices. All the staff have made big economic sacrifices to be with the club. We're asking the players to do the same and hopefully we can reach a resolution."