The crisis brought about by multi-level marketing companies that have been putting money in popular Indian football clubs like Kingfisher East Bengal and Mohun Bagan AC "is now threatening to hit the players as their contracts come up for renewal next month," according to Digbijay Mishra of the Indian BUSINESS STANDARD. There are apprehensions that while most of the foreign players may get the same pay, "domestic players may face a cut." The Saradha group, which has defrauded several thousand small investors in Bengal, "was one of the lead sponsors for Mohun Bagan AC and after the scam was unearthed last month the budget for renewal of contracts with the players is likely to see contraction." Mohun Bagan AC Finance Secretary Debashish Dutta said that "there are no sectors in the state which are out of the reach of such chit fund companies," and football clubs too have received decent sponsorship deals from these companies from time to time. Dutta: "Now that the company has gone bust and many such other companies are also under stress, budget renewal of the contracts will see a definite cut of around 30 percent. Some common point has to be arrived at with the players" (BUSINESS STANDARD, 5/15).
