File photo of East Bengal players.© X (formerly Twitter)
Lucknow, the city of Nawabs, is gearing up to hosts traditional rivals Mohun Bagan and East Bengal for the first time on September 2 as part of plans to promote football in Uttar Pradesh. The derby will be played at state capital's K.D. Singh Babu Stadium. State Sports Director R.P. Singh told PTI that preparations are on full swing for the high-voltage match that will be played under floodlights. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is also expected to watch the proceedings and about 10,000 spectators are expected to throng the stadium.
As part of the preparations, the testing of the recently-installed flood lights in the stadium has started and dressing rooms and other facilities are being arranged for the players.
Singh said that All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey had met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow recently and expressed the need to promote football in Uttar Pradesh.
It was during that time, that he had proposed to organise the derby and the state government accepted the proposal.
Both the teams will reach Lucknow on September 1.
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