CAB president elect Sourav Ganguly very much part of ATK: Sanjiv Goenka

Kolkata: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly may become busy with the affairs of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) after being named its new president but he is still very much a part of Atletico de Kolkata's (ATK) football set-up, co-owner Sanjiv Goenka said on Friday.

Ganguly is the co-owner of the India Super League (ISL) team and played an active role in the football franchise's day-to-day affairs last year.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Thursday that Ganguly would take over the reins at CAB as the president after the demise of incumbent Jagmohan Dalmiya. But Ganguly is yet to take charge officially.

However, Goenka said he was and will continue to be an integral part of the ATK management.

"Who has said that he is not an active part of the ISL this year? He is very much a part of Atletico de Kolkata, his role is exactly the same as was last year."

Goenka also added: "Don’t judge anyone from its pre-season commitments. Sourav played an important role, he is playing an important role and he will continue playing an important role for the next season.”

The co-owner of ATK also said that they invested in the franchise fully aware that they would incur losses in the first few years.

“We went in with our ears and eyes open. We were aware that we won’t make profit in the first few years. We can’t say when we will reach the break-even, maybe two, three or five years. We are in it for the long haul.