Chirag Computers, owned by the Kolkata based RP Group of Companies, have bought 60% shares of I-League side Viva Kerala FC and will be the sponsors of the Kerala club in the upcoming season. An agreement was reached in a meeting held on Tuesday at Mumbai between the top officials of Chirag and Viva Kerala with the remaining 40% of the share retained by the club's current directors.
The RP Group of Companies has diversified presence in the realm of IT, Media, Advertising, Sports, Consultancy and in the Agro Foods and Ceramics industries. The company was established in 1998 by Kaustuv Ray and Shivaji Panja at Kolkata.
Chrag had been the principal sponsors of the Kolkata based United Sports Club since 2006, but withdrew from the association after 2010-11 season due to differences with the team management. The company had expressed their interest to partner Viva Kerala last week and there were rumors that Viva might shift their base to Kolkata in the new season as part of the deal.
But the Viva Kerala management assured that the team will remain to be a Kerala club and will play thir home matches at Kochi in the next I-League. The discussions are ongoing to avail the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kaloor, Kochi as Viva's home ground.
Earlier, Viva Kerala were in talks with car manufacturers Volkswagen, but both parties failed to reach a final agreement regarding the sponsorship. Viva were searching for potential buyers or sponsors when Chirag entered the stage.
The team that has seen a departure of some of their key players including Anil Kumar PK, NP Pradeep and Bello Razzaq will be active in the transfer market in the coming days, accrding to the first team coach Bino George. Chirag is said to have high expectations from the team in the coming season and is willing to splash the cash and get some big name players.
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From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Wednesday 29 June 2011, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.
Comments · 3
Great news! Viva must try to keep players who have not yet left then try to recruit players like Siraj, Surjith, Noushad and Saleel. Must keep a core of Malayalees and not waste money on big names just in it for the money.
Devastating News to hear the name VIVA is removed
Good news that Chirag has opted for sponsorship. I am strongly of the view that at least now Viva should retain the present quality players & recruit more experienced players from other clubs in the forthcoming season.Good luck Viva.