Bagan vs Lajong clash runs into security issue over police personnel availability

WEDNESDAY'S I-LEAGUE CLASH between Mohun Bagan and Shillong Lajong has once again run into logistical trouble, although the game is expected to go ahead at any cost.

The fixture, which was originally scheduled for early February but was postponed due to Bagan's recent hectic fixtures in I-League and AFC Champions League qualifiers. It was moved to 17th February, which is this Wednesday.

But unfortunately the state education board's higher secondary exams will be in full swing on that day. And the police's resources are stretched thin to provide security at the exam centers. They are reportedly finding it difficult to provide security for a football match on the same evening as the exam.

A meeting has been scheduled later today between Mohun Bagan officials and police authorities to discuss possible ways of getting around this situation.

In the present scenario, the match between Bagan and Lajong may be held with a private firm either providing the entire security or collaborating with the police in doing the same. Or it may be decided that the match will be held behind closed doors.

Ideally Bagan officials would have liked to postpone the game further rather than have it in an empty stadium, but looking at the dense fixture Bagan are facing from March to May, they do not want to add a further game in the latter months of the season.

But football matches being disrupted due to lack of police protection is becoming an uncomfortable reality in Kolkata. Over the last couple of seasons, unhelpfulness of the law enforcement has forced the clubs to change match dates, including a Kolkata Derby. Earlier this season, the police limited the number of tickets sold for the Mohun Bagan vs Mohammedan Sporting CFL match to 8,000. The recent I-League Kolkata Derby saw just about 60,000 tickets issued at the behest of Kolkata's finest.

The reasons have been different. Sometimes it's a fair, sometimes a political rally, an exam or something else. But providing security for the city's favourite sport seems to be always at the bottom of the priority list for the police.