After FC Goa exit in 2016, Dattaraj returns with new club

Panaji: Eight years after he was forced to end his association with FC Goa, Dattaraj Salgaocar is set to return to Goan football, this time with a new club of his own.

Industrialists Dattaraj Salgaocar and Shrinivas Dempo collectively held 65% stake in FC Goa, the Goan franchise in the Indian Super League since inception in 2014. The two were actively involved in running of the club but were forced out at the end of a long and bitter battle with ISL organisers that erupted after the Zico-coached club boycotted the final prize distribution ceremony in 2015.

The two quit the franchise in July 2016.

Dempo, since then, turned his focus to Dempo Sports Club, and now Salgaocar is making a comeback by forming a new club that will make its debut in the Goa Pro League next season (2024-25).

According to sources, V M Salgaocar Corporation has responded to the Goa Football Association’s invitation to bid for teams seeking direct entry to play in the top-tier of Goan football.

“As chairman of V M Salgaocar Corporation, Dattaraj Salgaocar has written to the GFA that bidding for a direct entry to the Goa Pro League for this season (2023-24) would be premature and impractical since the time is too short to form a team and meet the club licencing criteria,” a senior official told TOI on Saturday. “The company’s newly-formed club will have junior teams for this season and will be ready with their senior team from next year. This is excellent news for Goan football.”

Should the GFA guarantee V M Salgaocar Corporation a place in next season’s Goa Pro League, which appears to be a mere formality, the company has agreed to pay 50% of the stipulated Rs 50 lakh direct entry fee immediately.

Interestingly, Dattaraj Salgaocar’s father, Vasudev Mahadeva Salgaocar (VMS, 1916-1984), founder and chairman of the House of Salgaocar, had started Salgaocar SC (originally named Vimson) in 1956 and the club debuted in the second division which they won unbeaten.

Early this month, club president Shivanand Salgaocar, Dattaraj’s elder brother, said they were “forced to re-examine the original vision of Salgaocar FC”, prompting the decision to discontinue with the senior teams and focus on under-13 and under-15s.

V M Salgaocar Corporation, though, is not the only corporate seeking a direct entry.

Geno Pharmaceuticals, led by Dilip R Salgaocar, has also submitted a bid, while Pax of Nagoa will be the third club that is bidding for a direct entry.

According to sources, Geno has agreed to pay GFA the corporate entry fee of Rs 50 lakh that will give them a direct entry, while Pax of Nagoa will pay the minimum bid amount of Rs 30 lakh that is stipulated in the invitation to bid for clubs registered under the Societies Act 1860.

“The GFA will meet on Monday to examine the bids and take a final call. All three teams are almost certain to be accepted,” said the official.

The new clubs will have to adhere to the GFA Club Licencing Criteria, which makes it mandatory for clubs to fulfill the infrastructure, sporting, legal, financial and administration criteria.

The Goa Pro League currently has 11 teams with each team playing each other in a double leg system. For the past two years, the format was changed to a Championship/Relegation League due to the prevailing Covid-19 conditions and more recently due to a delayed start to the season on account of late elections.


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