East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick, the architect of the glamour outfit's stupendous success in international tournaments last year, resigned on Saturday, owning moral responsibility for the unsuccessful campaign in the AFC Cup.

Bhowmick, who returned along with his boys on Saturday morning after the AFC Cup quarter-final match in Damascus on September 22, sent in his resignation letter to club president Dr Pranab Dasgupta owning 'moral responsibility' for the debacle against Syrian outfit Al Jaish.

The club management, however, refused to accept his resignation and asked him to continue.

"We have received his resignation letter. But the club is not accepting it. We have asked Bhowmick to come for the morning practice tomorrow," East Bengal secretary Kalyan Mazumder said.

"The club is not holding the coach responsible for the unsuccessful campaign in AFC Cup. Though the loss against Al Jaish has crushed our dreams for another international triumph, we feel the loss was an outcome of factors that were beyond his control," a club official said.

East Bengal, who created history by winning the ASEAN Cup in Jakarta last year, ended their AFC Cup campaign by losing the quarterfinal tie 0-3 on aggregate.

Depleted in strength due to absence of injured star striker Baichung Bhutia, East Bengal went down to Al Jaish 0-3 in the away match after holding the rivals to a goalless draw in the home match in Kolkata last week.