ATLETICO DE KOLKATA CO-OWNERS SANJIV GOENKA , HARSH

20 S P O R T S P A C E
THE TELEGRAPH SUNDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2015
ATK
XXCE
ATLETICO DE KOLKATA CO-OWNERS SANJIV GOENKA, HARSH NEOTIA AND
UTSAV PAREKH TAKE t2 THROUGH THE JOYS OF BEING A PART OF #FATAFATIFOOTBALL
A
tletico de Kolkata is
number three on the points
table and is inching
towards a berth in the playoffs, but co-owners Sanjiv
Goenka, Harsh Neotia and Utsav
Parekh are not celebrating yet. They
have their fingers crossed and their
sporting spirit intact. A t2 chat with
the biz men behind ATK before ISL
2015 gets into the business end.
the game must improve. And that’s
something that we are seeing
distinctively getting better this year.
Hopefully, this trend will carry on.
We’ve been able to organise better
travel and logistics. There are lots of
pieces in the puzzle which are not
visible. Sale of T-shirts are better.
Lots of merchandising has
happened. Our social media
interventions have been better…
more followers. (ATK is number one
You must be finally relieved that
ATK is back to winning ways…
Sanjiv Goenka: Not yet!
I have a totally different
high. Thanks to football
and ISL, I was able to
shake hands and
simultaneously get a
picture with Mr (Amitabh)
Bachchan on one side and
Rajinikanth on the other.
— HARSH
When you are 25, you are
very focused on the task.
When you are 55, of
course you continue to be
focused, but other things
also start to matter. At a
certain phase in life, we all
grow beyond immediate
pluses and minuses,
profits and losses.... There
is more to life than that....
I am enjoying it so much
that I will increase my
involvement with the
business of sports for sure.
— SANJIV
It seems you won’t be relieved till
they win the trophy, right?
(Everyone laughs out loud)
Harsh: Well, certainly from the state
we were… there is a smile at least, if
not full relief. In the middle, it looked
a little…
Utsav: Very wobbly.
Sanjiv: We are learning how to deal
with sports now and the vagaries of
a game. One bad moment or one good
moment for someone can alter the
fortunes. It’s different from dealing
with a company where it is far more
predictable.
How are you dealing with failure
and success?
Sanjiv: It’s a part of sports, a part of
any game, a part of any club. We of
course are happy with the success
and disappointed with failure, but
both are an integral part of the game.
You win some, you lose some. The
effort has to be right and we have to
play well. And at the end of the day it
is the better team which wins.
Harsh: We average it out well. He
(points at Utsav) is man who is
paranoid. He has all sorts of facial
expressions. I sometimes feel I am
watching half the football on his face
and half on the ground! Sanjiv is a
little more in the middle. He gets a
little excited when we win. I am
completely chilled-out. It makes no
difference whether we win or lose.
How come?!
Harsh: I don’t know. May be that’s
the way I treat life. And being
married to Madhu you have to learn
how to…
(Utsav laughs out loud)
Utsav: That’s a good one!
Sanjiv Goenka, Utsav Parekh and Harsh Neotia at CESC
House on Thursday afternoon. Pictures: Rashbehari Das
Message for the team
We are all into it for the sake of the sport. We have got a
band of followers, but I would say my job is well done the
day the ATK fans would shout the way the Atletico de
Madrid fans shout… like an army. — UTSAV
Harsh: She has made me Zen-like
because she is so hyper about
everything, that in order to keep my
balance, I have to be Zen! Agar kuch
tension bhi hota hai toh theek hai.
Sanjiv: This was two days ago and
somebody very senior in Delhi,
whom I have known for over 30 years,
he told me that I have changed
dramatically in the last 10 years. I am
not sure I have. May be, I have. He
said I have become a little more
mature, tolerant and patient. That is
due to the influence of one man in
my life: Harsh Neotia. (Laughs)
Utsav: For me, it (winning and
losing) matters a lot.
Harsh: Every kick of the ball...
Utsav: ... it affects me.
Sanjiv: That keeps us going. What
would we do without his passion? We
would be lost without him.
Utsav: I get too charged up and
agitated. Like yesterday (November
18 vs Chennaiyin FC) when our
defenders failed to clear that ball and
we conceded a goal, I was literally
calling them idiots!
Harsh: He might just put on the
boots… except that Habas (head
coach Antonio Lopez Habas) is in the
way, so he won’t let him go on the
field! If it was any other coach, he
would have said: ‘Get one of those
guys out and I am kicking the ball’!
Sanjiv: He would have been our
coach! (Laughs)
Utsav: All said and done, this game
has really changed a lot of things in
me. I have been so active, so sociallyconscious. Earlier, I would happily
stay in the background, but now I
tend to come to the forefront.
We are almost at the business end
of Season II. How has this year
been different?
Sanjiv: You learn with every game
and every mistake. You try and make
sure that you don’t repeat the same
mistake. And, I am sure Season III
will be better than Season II. It is not
in terms of winning or losing. It’s
actually in terms of organising the
club, organising the way things are
structured. I think one thing we miss
is having a professional CEO, which
we will certainly have in Season III.
So, the day-to-day pressure on Mr
Parekh will significantly reduce.
Harsh: He has two games to play
now… football and getting his
(younger) son (Saharsh) married.
Sanjiv: It’s a constant process and
Sanjiv: Take it each day at a time.
Play with a positive mindset. Play to
win. Have faith. It’s also about luck.
Harsh: We certainly hope it
happens, but what is important is to
play the game in the right spirit.
Work hard and leave it at that.
Utsav: The goal is still too far.
Hopefully we will.The fans should
support us more strongly and
vociferously.
we are learning the business of
sports. It’s very different from any
other conventional business. We are
learning it fast. We had a much
better team this year than last year.
Harsh: Last year, it all happened in
such a rush. This year
administratively the backup is much
better, not that we are getting huge
sales of tickets, but the process of
selling tickets has been smooth.
The ticket sales must be a
concern…
Harsh: Well it could certainly be
better, but earlier there was a
problem of people not being able to
get the tickets on time. All those
things are much better. The other
thing I feel is we’ve been able to get
our sponsors better visibility and
more participation. I think that’s
very important. The commercials of
t2: Is anyone scared of
Habas’s temper?
Sanjiv: I have gone
beyond the stage where
I get scared of people.
Harsh: Well, there is
some address that goes
as 19 Belvedere Road
(Goenka Niwas).
(Everyone goes LOL)
Harsh: Any man who
says that he doesn’t
have a problem back
there, is lying through
his teeth…
Sanjiv: My family for
sure.
Harsh: That’s the
Waterloo no? You lose
that battle anyway!
on Twitter, Facebook in terms of likes
and followers among the eight ISL
2015 teams.)
Utsav: The most important thing is
this is not a business. You cannot
plan ANYTHING. You have to adapt
to the situation. Every day there is a
problem… the pitch (at Salt Lake
stadium) is definitely giving all the
players a problem.
Harsh: This year you cannot do
much because it is a new pitch. I am
sure by next year, it will settle down.
Sanjiv: The pitch is much better this
year, but there are things that you
learn. You might go to the best
ground curator, but may be even
that’s not good enough.
Purely as a spectator what do you
look for in an ATK match?
Harsh: I am not an expert but in my
understanding, the standard of the
game in general has certainly got
better than last time. That’s what I
hear from a lot of people.
Sanjiv: When I go into the stadium, I
am not able to divorce my emotion as
an owner or my thoughts as an
owner. To me, if something in the
stands is not right or somebody is not
greeted properly, if somebody has
not got the right seating… this is all a
part of something that we are
supposed to offer to our guests or to
the spectators. So, if that is not right,
then it’s not appropriate. In a way,
you are on attention. You are not
relaxed because you are a host.
What are the first things you
notice when you enter the
stadium?
Sanjiv: How the hospitality team is
greeting the spectators. When you
start dealing with a consumercentric business — like power, retail
and music — you start looking at the
softer angles which are so important.
You are looking at ways and means to
improve the experience each time
and clearly, they are significantly
better than last year, but there are
lots of things that can still be done…
much much better. The constant
effort will go on. We’ve got a very
dedicated team. It’s not about one
individual, but about everyone
playing their own roles and making
it work.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 21
▼
But the team will make it to the
semis…
Sanjiv: We hope so....
Utsav Parekh: One more win....
Sanjiv: We are hopefully peaking at
the right time. But relief ? Not yet.
XXCE
S P O R T S P A C E 21
THE TELEGRAPH SUNDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2015
▼
ATK
FROM PAGE 20
I think last year we had some issues
with the team. This year it has been
smoothened out. There is no politics.
The dressing-room atmosphere is
warm. Everyone is together. And this
is as much about HR… creating that
spirit of bonding.
I think we are bonding very well
as a team of owners. All of us are on
the same page and each of us has
different roles. At an operational
level it is working well. At a team
level it is working well. At an
administrative level it is working
well. We’ve had injuries. If (Helder)
Postiga was with us throughout the
tournament, may be results in a
couple of games could have been
different and our position could have
been different.
(Iain) Hume, (Sameehg) Doutie,
Arata Izumi are doing well.
Amrinder (Singh; goalkeeper) has
been a great find. But this is part of a
sport. So, next year, we will plan
better. It’s a great experience. It’s fun.
We are here to stay. As far as I am
concerned, I am enjoying it so much
that I will increase my involvement
with the business of sports for sure.
What shape or form I don’t know.
Like cricket?
Sanjiv: I don’t know how it’s going to
shape up at the end of the day… I
have actually started believing that
through sport you can nurture and
help people realise their true
potential. It’s pretty much like
nurturing your own son. The
emotions might not be that strong,
but the process would be similar.
ATK co-owner Sourav Ganguly at
The Park. Picture: Sayantan Ghosh
FINAL WHISTLE:
The 50,000-odd crowd erupted in
euphoria as the referee blew the final
whistle. ATK co-owners (L-R) Harsh
Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka and Utsav Parekh
led the cheers. “I spoke to the boys
before the start of ISL and wished them
luck. It’s great to watch them play so
well after all the hard work they put in
over the last few months,” said Harsh,
who couldn’t attend the last two home
games, which ATK lost, but proved to be
the lucky charm on Wednesday the 18th!
SOURAV SPEAK
How far do you think ATK will go
this season?
Fingers crossed, let’s see!
Å SORRY, SHOOJITDA! Piku
man Shoojit Sircar, a Salt
Lake stadium regular and a
prominent member of the
NorthEast United FC camp,
witnessed Atletico’s dramatic turnaround against
Abhishek Bachchan’s Chennaiyin FC. He followed Junior B out of the stadium
before the final whistle. He
looked visibly disappointed
as ATK’s win took them
four points clear of NorthEast United FC on the day.
Who has been your favourite
player from this season?
Iain Hume. He has been brilliant.
What do you think of (coach)
Habas?
I’ve always felt that Habas is the
heartbeat of the team. After the game
against Chennaiyin FC, my man
Habas is back!
One message to ATK fans...
Once again, ATK are playing well and
are in a good position. Let’s hope we
go till the very end!
and happiness is unparalleled.
When you are 25, you are very
focused on the task. When you are 55,
of course you continue to be focused,
but these things also start to matter.
At a certain phase in life, we all grow
beyond immediate pluses and
minuses, profits and losses and
success and failure. There is more to
life than that.
What have been the high points
this year?
Utsav: The respect that we get from
our supporters in spite of our
losses… the number of SMSs I got….
We have got a band of followers, but I
would say my job is well done the day
the ATK fans would shout the way
the Atletico de Madrid fans shout…
like an army... bring the roof down.
Sanjiv: For me it’s about this feeling
of oneness… for the cause of the city.
Everyone is united because they
want the city team to win. The club
bringing the emotions of a city
together is a high for me.
Harsh: I have a totally different high.
Thanks to football and ISL, I was able
to shake hands and simultaneously
get a picture with Mr (Amitabh)
Bachchan on one side and
Rajinikanth on the other.
Utsav: I took that picture. I cannot
imagine him being so excited! Like a
teenager with Salman Khan by her
side.
Harsh: I was seeing stars. I am
usually not at a loss for words, but
when I meet Mr Bachchan, I cannot
even say ‘Hello’ to him. Rajinikanth
is so humble.
Finally, what do you think it will
take to get Harsh Neotia cheering
loudly at the stadium?
(Everyone goes LOL)
Utsav: We will get it out of him.
Sanjiv: When Paroma (Harsh’s
daughter) bags a big film award.
Saionee Chakraborty
To win ISL 2015, ATK will have
to....Tell [email protected]
Å
Å
So, no partying?
Harsh: Well, no compulsory
partying. (Laughs)
Sanjiv: See, the thrill you are giving
people. It feels good. I cannot explain
the feeling, but it is a great feeling.
There is a vendor at Salt Lake
stadium, a lady who sells sweets.
Yesterday she gave me a packet of
sweets. She said it was for our
victory.... You are developing a bond
with people way beyond your daily
call of work. That sense of connect
Å
THE GANGULYS: “ATK were brilliant today, but I’m taking one game
at a time and not thinking about the
semi-finals yet,” said a cautious
Dona Ganguly, there with daughter
Sana, whose exams have ended right
before ATK’s string of home games.
“The whole team played well, every
single player,” said Dona, when
asked about her Man of the Match.
GAME FOR YOGA?
“It was an entertaining game between two
top sides and the atmosphere in the stadium was absolutely
electric, ” said yoga
lady and t2 columnist
Varuna Shunglu, who
is a Lionel Messi fan
and watched the game
with friend and Kerala Blasters FC defender Nirmal
Chettri.
Å HELDER’S
HOMECOMING:
Å
Do we see an IPL team then? Are
you all going to be there as well?
Sanjiv: All I am saying is, for me, the
business of sports will be an integral
part of the group. This (ATK) Harsh
requested me to be a part of, but I am
beginning to see a huge learning
coming out of this. And I am
beginning to enjoy it. I am beginning
to see the value creation over a
period of time that could be had from
sport.... We will be involved with
more sports and more with the
business of sports… be it cricket or
kabaddi.... This is a team that has
worked. We trust each other. So,
whether it is this team or some other
team or individuals, all those things
will evolve with time.
Harsh: I think it is the joy of
association. When you do something
together, there is some amount of
time that you need to spend with
each other. If you enjoy that time,
then it becomes more worth it. It
makes a difference when you are all
together watching a match.
Fortunately, we’ve been friends for
long. So, we have that informality.
Now when we meet… we also chat
about other silly things. (Laughs)
Utsav: We are all into it for the sake
of the sport. The administration has
improved tremendously. People are
not staying awake till late as we had
done last year.
ATK 2 CHENNAIYIN FC 1
ONE FOR THE FUTURE:
15-month-old Navroop Singh aka
Baljit Sahni (junior) is not only
the youngest but also one of the
most loyal ATK fans, having
attended every home game this
year, with his mother. Clearly,
with this sort of love for football,
don’t be surprised if you see him
on the field sporting ATK’s red
and white stripes in about 18
years from now.
Helder Postiga was
kept busy
throughout the
game by his fans
who wanted to get
clicked with the
ATK marquee man.
Although we loved
having him around
with us in the
stands, we can’t wait
to see the
Portuguese striker
back on the pitch.
Å Sanjiv Goenka,
Utsav Parekh and
Abhishek
Bachchan engage
in some friendly
pre-match banter.
KABHI KHUSHI KABHI GHAM
27th minute: Abhishek
Bachchan is Mr Khushi,
punching the air and
hugging everyone in his
vicinity, as Chennaiyin FC’s
Raphael Augusto gives his
team the lead.
65th minute: AB is Mr Gham
after ATK’s dramatic turnaround
with goals from Doutie and
Hume, scripting Chennaiyin
FC’s hat-trick of defeats.
Text: Rwitoban Deb
Pictures: Anindya Shankar Ray