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‘East Bengal Looking Forward to Joining ISL’; Verdict of Manchester City’s Appeal to CAS over European Ban Set for Monday and More (Football Round-up)

Short Passes (Football News Round-up): East Bengal will surely join the Indian Super League (ISL), says club official | Manchester City to learn result of appeal to CAS over European club competition ban on Monday | 1966 FIFA World Cup winner Jack Charlton dies at the age of 85 | FC Zurich finds several positive tests for COVID-19 among staff and players | Norwich City get relegated from Premier League
East Bengal FC financial woes after ending deal with Quess Corp.

East Bengal FC is currently facing a lot of financial crisis following a fallout with its former investor Quess Corp.

East Bengal will "surely and soon" be part of the Indian Super League (ISL), along with their rivals Mohun Bagan, a top official asserted. The legacy club has been facing a lot of hurdles, primarily financial.

A few hours after a meeting of the newly formed board of ATK Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC owner Parth Jindal tweeted to invite East Bengal to be a part of ISL at the earliest. That whipped up quite a bit of speculation among the fans about the possible entry of East Bengal into the ISL.

Also Read | ATK Mohun Bagan: Ifs and Buts Remain as the Legacy Club Walks Down a New Path

Jindal had tweeted, "Come on @eastbengalfc come into the @IndSuperLeague now already - you're the only thing missing from the league now."

The club is currently facing a lot of financial crisis following a fallout with its former investor Quess Corp, who were with them the last two seasons of the I-League.

The club is currently in talks with a few investors and, after a final settlement with Quess, they will make a move towards ISL.

Ranjit Bajaj, former owner of Minerva Punjab FC, has made his bid to buy 70 percent of Quess East Bengal FC shares and acquire the sporting rights.

Manchester City’s CAS Verdict

Manchester City’s future for the next two years in European club competitions is going to be decided on Monday. City had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) issued a ban in February.

In its verdict, the CFCB said the club had committed "serious breaches" of UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations between 2012 and 2016. The club was also fined 30m euros (£25m) for the same.

Also Read | Wimbledon Will Pay Out Prize Money To Players, Hailed As A ‘Leader Of the Sport’

City took the prompt decision to file against the verdict in the CAS. They believe the CFCB was not independent and ended up losing the trust it had in the organisation, mostly because of the kind of sensitive information the club felt was leaked to the press.

"We are ready. I have a lot of confidence and trust with the people that we will be allowed to play the Champions League because we want to be on the field during these years," said manager Pep Guardiola.

Their appeal was taken up in June and has been heard by three CAS lawyers in video conferences.

Jack Charlton Passes Away at 85

Former England player and 1966 FIFA World Cup winner, Jack Charlton, passed away at the age of 85. The former Leeds United defender was suffering from lymphoma since his diagnosis last year and also had a case of dementia.

He holds the record for the most number of appearances for Leeds, and garnered a lot of success as a coach during his time with the Republic of Ireland national side.

A family statement read: "Jack died peacefully on Friday, July 10 at the age of 85. He was at home in Northumberland, with his family by his side. We cannot express how proud we are of the extraordinary life he led and the pleasure he brought to so many people in different countries and from all walks of life.”

The England football team tweeted they were "devastated" by the news, while he was given the title of the man who "changed Irish football forever" by the Football Association of Ireland.

FC Zurich’s Covid-19 Crisis

Swiss top-flight club FC Zurich saw a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the squad staff after defender Mirlind Kryeziu tested positive, the club said on Saturday. It has raised doubts on the club’s participation in the league which resumed recently. The team’s next two games have been called off.

The club said that the 23-year-old defender had tested positive and that, after consultations with the local health authority, the squad has been asked to self isolate till July 17. 

Also Read | BCCI Accepts CEO Rahul Johri’s Resignation

Kryeziu, who made an appearance as a substitute in last Tuesday’s match at Neuchatel Xamax, currently shows mild symptoms. The club has confirmed that the entire first team squad and staff have been tested and many have had positive results.

“FC Zurich is in constant communication with the Swiss Football League and will now analyse the next steps,” it said. “No further information can be given at this time.”

Norwich City Get Relegated

Norwich City is the first club to be relegated from the Premier League in the 2019-2020 season as Michail Antonio scored four goals to give relief to West Ham, who stand near the bottom of the table.

Norwich is currently facing its third relegation in seven seasons, after it has been struggling to adapt after last season’s win. Antonio's superb performance made the path more difficult for Norwich.

When the season was suspended due to the coronavirus lockdown, Norwich were just four points away from safety with 10 games remaining, but failed to perform.

Team boss, Daniel Farke insists Norwich is not going to do anything "crazy" in the transfer market as they plan to make a comeback in the upcoming 2020-21 after they make important team decisions.

The future of Farke as the team boss is very indecisive as of now, while Norwich's hierarchy has some tough decisions to make concerning the future of the club's playing assets.

In November 2019, Norwich announced a loss of about £38m for the financial year before the senior staff forecast had made a prediction of  £16m profit for 2019-20.

It may prompt Norwich to get more valuable young players like Ben Godfrey and Todd Cantwell on their side, although Farke, in a statement on the eve of the West Ham game said "If we want to bounce back next season it is important we keep our best players to be competitive."

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