I-League: Security to be beefed up ahead of Kolkata derby (Lead, correcting para 2)

In order to ensure seamless conduct of the marquee I-League football match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, security will be tightened from Sunday morning with extra police force to be deployed inside the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan.

A meeting was held at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan between officials of the two clubs and state Sports Minister Aroop Biswas on the eve of the big-ticket clash which is slated for a 2 pm kick-off. Mohun Bagan are the home team for Sunday's game.

There will be 244 CCTV cameras in and around the stadium premises and the security arrangements will be similar to that of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, it was learnt.

Not long ago, fan trouble resulted in a Kolkata derby not being completed after Mohun Bagan abandoned a match mid-way after their player Syed Rahim Nabi was hit in the face by a stone hurled from the crowd at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan.

As a result, the green and maroon brigade were slapped with a two-year ban from the I-League which was later lifted.

The last derby played at the colossal venue, which hosted 11 U-17 World Cup matches including the final, was on January 23. That match had ended 1-1.

--IANS

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