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What’s the story?
Due to the ongoing Test match between India and Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, two separate derby matches of the U13 and U15 youth leagues, between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan were postponed due to security reasons.
In case you didn’t know
India are facing Sri Lanka in Kolkata in the first game of the three-match Test series, which started on Thursday and will continue till Monday. As a result, Kolkata Police have informed that they won’t be able to provide sufficient security for the U15 and U13 Kolkata derbies, previously scheduled for Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Heart of the matter
Kolkata Police provides forces for all sporting events, which require personnel for controlling the crowd and as the Eden Test is ongoing, a major share of the policemen are deployed at the iconic cricket stadium.
The Kolkata Police had informed the tournament organisers that they would not be able to send enough forces for the two youth derbies, as a large number of their force will be deployed at the Eden Garden for the Test match, according to a source.
What's next?
The new dates for the cancelled fixtures are yet to be announced. In all probabilities, it will be scheduled at a time when there won’t be much pressure on the Kolkata Police.
Author’s take
Due to incessant rains over the last few days, the Test match has been heavily affected with just 33 overs’ play possible over two days and the stadium has been more than 90% empty. However, the football matches had to bear the brunt.
This is highly unacceptable because one sport is being given more preference over the other and just because it is a youth league game, there hasn’t been much of a noise about this.
