New Delhi: Indian football’s season-opening Durand Cup will kick-off on July 27 and will be held across four venues stretching till August 31, its organisers the Indian Army announced on Tuesday.
A total of 43 matches will be played in the 133rd edition of Asia’s oldest and the world’s third oldest football tournament in a round-robin league-cum-knockout format.
The opening and concluding games will be held in Kolkata’s famed Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan with 24 teams, divided into six groups, fighting for glory.
Group topping six clubs and two second best best ones will advance to the knockout stage. Foreign teams is expected to participate this year too, the organisers said, adding that several matches will be held in Jamshedpur and Shillong this time.
Beside Kolkata, where the tournament was shifted from its traditional base of Delhi five years ago, matches will also be held Kokrajhar for the second consecutive year.
Games of three groups will be held in Kolkata while Kokrajhar, Shillong and Jamshedpur will host matches of one group each.
Reigining ISL Shield champions Mohun Bagan Super are the defending champions, having won the tournament for a record 17th time, beating traditional rivals East Bengal 1-0 in the final at VYBK last year.
Jamshedpur, Shillong will be the two new venues of the historic Durand Cup, which will begin in Kolkata on July 27 Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
