Manchester City’s owners exit Mumbai City: Indian football’s sorry saga claims first victim, will more follow?

As Indian football’s sorry saga claims first victim, the fear would more clubs rush for the exit door

Six years ago, Mumbai City — a club with minuscule fanbase and playing in a modest ground in a over-crowded Western suburb — became the latest, and surprising, acquisition of the City Football Group (CFG). The owners of England and European giants Manchester City, CFG operate like a football MNC, with clubs in 13 countries across five continents. Mumbai, in November 2019, was their newest toy.

Those were bullish times for Indian football. At the start of 2019, India came up with an impressive performance, by their standards, at the Asian Cup; snatched a point away from home against the mighty Qatar; the men’s national team was on the cusp of breaking into the world’s top 100; and the Indian Super League had controversially become the official top-division, reducing the I-League to a second-tier competition. The CFG entered the scene in this backdrop, promising to ‘deliver transformative benefits to Mumbai City and Indian football.’