INDIA. Mumbai: The “Trophy Tour” of the 132nd edition of the Durand Cup, India’s oldest football tournament, was inaugurated at a ceremony held at Manekshaw Centre, Delhi Cantonment, by the service chiefs on Friday.
General Manoj Pande, the Chief of the Army Staff, along with Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of Air Staff, and Kalyan Chaubey, President of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), inaugurated the “Trophy Tour.” The event was attended by a large number of young football enthusiasts and prominent sports personalities.
As part of the tour, the three trophies will travel across the country over the next one month, making appearances in several major cities, including Shimla, Udhampur, Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Kokrajhar, Guwahati, and Shillong, before reaching Kolkata for the grand event.
According to an official statement, the tournament is scheduled to take place in Kolkata from August 3 to September 3.
The Durand Cup was first inaugurated in Shimla in 1888 as an Army Cup, initially open only to the British Indian Army troops stationed in India. However, it soon expanded to include civilian teams as well.
As Asia’s oldest and the world’s third oldest football tournament, the Durand Cup attracts top Indian football clubs from all corners of the country. Organized by the Indian Armed Forces, the tournament has served as a breeding ground for India’s finest football talent over the years.
The winning team is presented with three trophies—the Durand Cup (a rolling trophy and the original prize), the Shimla Trophy (also a rolling trophy, first gifted by the residents of Shimla in 1904), and the President’s Cup (a permanent keepsake, first presented by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, India’s first President, in 1956). This distinction makes the tournament truly unique.
The 132nd edition of the tournament will witness the participation of 24 teams, including teams from Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. The inclusion of foreign teams marks their return to the tournament after a hiatus of 27 years.
Open to all club teams, the Durand Cup is conducted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) under the auspices of the All India Football Federation (AIFF). Throughout its history, the tournament has consistently represented the pinnacle of excellence, sportsmanship, and competitiveness in the field of sports.
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