The kinds of scenes when two Leeds fans died in April 2000 before a UEFA Cup match against Istanbul club Galatasaray after a pitch battle between supporters is unlikely to repeat itself, say authorities.

Liverpool's presence in Istanbul on May 25 also evoked memories of the Heysel stadium tragedy in Brussels in 1985.

As Liverpool and Juventus were preparing to contest the European Cup final, a wall collapsed killing 39 people as Juventus fans tried to escape a surging mass of Liverpool fans.

But with less than two weeks to go to the showpiece final, local officials are adamant similar scenes will not take place.

About 2,600 stewards will be spread throughout the crowd and 1,000 police will be present, including 600 hidden underneath the stands.

Sami Colgecen, who is in charge of organising the final, told AFP: "We don't have any particular worries about British supporters. A list of hooligans will soon be sent to us and they will not be able to enter Turkey."

Strict security checks will be made at Istanbul airports by Turkish police, aided by British authorities, and any trouble makers would be quickly identified, added Colgecen.

"We know that English clubs only sell their quota of tickets to supporters who have followed the club the whole season, which helps the situation," he added.

English and Italian supporters will have a hard time meeting such are the arrangements that have been put into place.

English fans will arrive by charter plane at the Sabiha Gokcen airport, on the Asian side of the city, while those from Italy will fly into the Ataturk airport on the European side.

The two groups of fans will be escorted to the stadium by different routes and will occupy distinctly different parts of the 78,000-capacity venue.

The Turkish Cup final on Wednesday night, won 5-1 by Galatasaray against Fenerbahce, served as a dress rehearsal for security arrangements with about 8,000 police, stewards and officials on hand to ensure fans of the two Istanbul clubs did not express their rivalry in physical terms.

Istanbul governor Muammer Guler, quoted by the Anatolie press agency, said: "We deployed all the measures which could be needed for the Champions League final and we were happy with the results."

A meeting between sports officials and authorities of the governor of Istanbul will be held in the next few days to fine tune arrangements, particularly the securing of the area around the stadium and in the city centre.

About 70,000 tickets for the final will be distributed, with 20,000 each for the two clubs, 16,000 for fans in Europe and 6,000 for sponsors with the rest going to European and national sporting bodies.

The 120-million-dollar Olympic stadium of Ataturk is three and a half years old and was built as part of Istanbul's plan to attract the Olympics to the city but it has been largely underused. It is the biggest and most modern stadium in Turkey.

Several hundred buses will ensure transport to the stadium, which is about 20km outside the city, with the help of reserved lanes and traffic restrictions imposed in certain areas, Colgecen added.