ISL Side Kerala Blasters Announce Mohun Bagan’s I-League-winning Kibu Vicuna as Coach

Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters announced Mohun Bagan’s I-League winning coach Kibu Vicuna as their new head coach on Wednesday. This comes after they parted ways with Eelco Schattorie just hours earlier.

The Spanish coach was in charge of Mohun Bagan, as the Kolkata-based club won their second I-League title with 4 games in hand. All India Football Federation (AIFF) had officially declared Mohun Bagan as the winners and suspended the I-League due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic with 28 matches remaining.

Vicuna was wthourt a club as Mohun Bagan would be merging with ISL's ATK to form the ATK-Mohun Bagan, who decided Antonio Lopez Habas as coach. Habas had won ATK their record third ISL title.

Kerala Blaster FC took to social media to announce the development.

"We are happy to announce that Kibu Vicuña will take over as Head Coach for the upcoming season!" Kerala Blasters tweeted.

Vicuna took over from Khalid Jamil, becoming the first foreign coach Mohun Bagan have had since Moroccan Karim Bencherifa left the club in 2014.

Kerala Blasters' newly-appointed Lithuanian sporting director Karolis Skinkys was influential in convincing Vicuna to agree to join the side which finished seventh in the 10-team league.

All football has been stopped for the time being due to the coronavirus pandemic. Vicuna is currently stuck in Kolkata due to the deadly coronavirus forcing the country to enforce an extended lockdown until May 3.

As for Eelco Schattorie, under his leadership the Kochi-based outfit in the ISL 2019-20 and guided the club to a seventh-place finish.