Sadly, a large number of soccer fans who had come with their children below six years, had a difficult time to enter the stadium with the police and the organisers maintaining that there’s a ban on entry of children below six years into the stadium. While some managed to gain entry through the good offices of senior police officers, there were others who could not make it and left the venue disappointed.
Unlike the previous match held on December 1, the three-tier security cordon introduced by the administration helped to keep the surging crowds at bay this time round. As a result, order was maintained all round the stadium with only the ticket holders allowed to stand in the queue at the entry gates. While one came across fans near the second cordon till 6.45 pm, those who did not posses the tickets left the venue ostensibly to watch the matches on the giant screens installed in Fatorda and across Salcete for the eagerly awaited match.
As a precautionary measure, the district administration closed down the bars close to the main gate to ensure that the sale of liquor did not pose nuisance for the sports lovers.
It was only at gate No 5 that one found a group of persons standing near the business establishments, but PI Raju Raut Desai, who was posted at the site formed a police cordon to ensure that persons without tickets did not enter the stadium.
South Goa district Collector, Venancio Furtado, district police chief Shekhar Prabhudessai along with the deputy collectors, executive magistrates and senior police officials were literally on their toes throughout the evening.
After the match, Venancio expressed satisfaction that the security and parking arrangements put in place by the administration worked as per the plan. “We had put in place a foolproof plan which worked satisfactorily. There was no untoward incident and minor issues were resolved at the gates itself,” Venancio said.
The police had deployed around a 1000 personnel, besides eight platoons of IRB at the Nehru stadium and outside.
Vehicles heading to the stadium were checked and diverted to the parking lots which helped to bring a semblance of order near the stadium.
