Prasenjit Deb
The three Durand trophies were unveiled for a three-day tour of host city Guwahati on Saturday.
Assam Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Nandita Gorlosa on behalf of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma unveiled the three Durand Cup Trophies in a grand ceremony here at a city hotel.
Also present on the occasion was Lt General RP Kalita, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, among other dignitaries.
The three trophies unique to the tournament are, the Durand Cup (a rolling trophy and the original prize), the Shimla Trophy (also a rolling trophy and first given by the resident of Shimla in 1904) and the President’s Cup (for permanent keep and first presented by Rajendra Prasad, India’s first president, in 1956).
They begin their tour of Guwahati on July 15, 2023 and will visit such landmarks as Royal Global University, the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati Town Club, Maa Kamakhya Temple, Govindam Sweet, Dr. B Borooah College and Roodraksh Mall among others. The trophies will be also be on public display at the State War Memorial on July 15, at the City Centre Mall on July 16 and at the Cotton University and IOCL on July 17, 2023.
Earlier, the three Durand Trophies were jointly flagged off for a 15 city Trophy Tour on Friday June 30, 2023, in Delhi, by General Manoj Pande, Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army, Air Chief Marshal VK Chaudhary, Chief of Air Staff and Kalyan Chaubey, President, All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Udhampur was the third-stop in the tour after the Trophies travelled to Dehradun on Sunday.
Before embarking upon Guwahati, the trophies have already visited the cities of Dehradun, Udhampur, Jaipur, Pune, Mumbai, Karwar, Ezhimala and Kochi. Their next stop is Bengaluru.
The other cities that the tour will cover include Kokrajhar, and Shillong. They will also visit Kathmandu and Dhaka, before flagging-into Kolkata, the venue of the finals.
The 132nd edition of the legendary Durand Cup football tournament, organised by the Indian Army on behalf of the three services is the only cup tournament in the country which pits Service Teams along with the top teams from different divisions of Indian Football.
The football tournament is all set to kick-off on August 3, 2023, with Guwahati hosting nine matches, with a Northeast derby between local side Northeast United FC (NEUFC) and debutants Shillong Lajong scheduled as the first game on the evening of August 4, 2023. All games, including one quarter final knockout game will be played at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium. The finals are scheduled for September 3, 2023 in Kolkata. Guwahati will be playing host to the Durand Cup for the second year running.
This time the Durand Cup will have 24 teams, up from 20 last time, including all 12 Indian Super League (ISL) sides. Service teams from neighbouring foreign countries of Bangladesh and Nepal, will also be participating in the legacy tournament, making foreign participation in the legendary tournament happening after a long gap of 27 years.
