Asia’s oldest club football tournament Durand Cup 2023 kickoff in Kolkata

Asia’s oldest club level football tournament , Durand Cup started on 3rd August 2023 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata (West Bengal). In the inagural match Mohan Bagan Super Giant beat Bangaldesh Army team by 5-0. The  final of the 132nd Durand Cup 2023 will be held on 3rd September 2023 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata ).

The 132nd Durand Cup will be offcially inaguarted by the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the SAI stadium in Korajhar ,Assam on 5 August 2023.

The 131st Durand cup 2022 was won by Bengaluru FC by defeating Mumbai City FC by 2-1 in the final. The winner is given three trophies,Durand Cup,Shimla Trophy and the President’s cup .

The 132nd edition of the Durand Cup is being hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society in cooperation with the All India Football Federation (AIFF), Eastern Command of the Indian Army , Government of West Bengal and supported by the government of Assam.

Participating Team 

24 teams are participating in this year’s Durand cup . Of the 24 teams ,12 clubs from the Indian Super League, top teams from the I-League and teams from the armed forces are participating. This year Army teams from Nepal and Bangladesh are also participating. 

Venue of the  2023 Durand Cup 

The 2023 Durand Cup will be played across three different cities of Kolkata, Kokrajahar and Guwahati . The matches will be played at the following five stadiums . 

• Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata(West Bengal)

• Kishore Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata

• Mohun Bagan Ground, Kolkata

• SAI Stadium Kokrajhar(Assam)

• Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati(Assam)

Durand Cup 

• Durand football tournament or Durand cup is the oldest football club tournament in Asia . 

• It was started in 1888 and the first tournament was held in Shimla .

• Initially it was a football tournament  for different regiments of the British army and it was later opened to the civilians .

• The Tournament is organised by the Indian Army and All India Football Federation.

• The Cup is named after the foreign secretary of British India ,Moritmer Durand.

• The international boundary line,Durand Line, which separates Afghanistan from British India (now Pakistan) is named after Moritmer Durand .