GUWAHATI: Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Nandita Gorlosa unveiled the three magnificent Durand Cup trophies in a grand ceremony held at a city hotel here today. The three trophies are on a three-day tour in the city.
The 132nd Edition of the Durand Cup football tournament, organized 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.
This time the championship will kick-off on August 3 and will be held in three venues- Kolkata, Guwahati and Kokrajhar. The Guwahati leg will begin on August 4 and the championship at Kokrajhar will kick off on August 5. The opening match in Guwahati, which is a North-East derby, will be held between North-East United FC (NEUFC) and debutants Shillong Lajong. The match will begin at the Indira Gandhi Athletics stadium under floodlights at 6-00pm. The other group league matches at the same venue however will start at two different times 2-30 PM and 3 pm respectively. City will also host a quarter final tie which is scheduled to be held on August 26.
Addressing the gathering at the Durand Trophies unveiling ceremony Gorlosa said, “Assam has been making ex-ceptional progress in sports in recent times with our young athletes representing Indian teams across disciplines. In this context the staging of such premiere national tournaments like the Durand Cup, gives a further boost, particu-larly to our state’s young and talented footballers, as they get an opportunity to see their favourite teams and stars play in front of them.”
The event was attended by Lt. Gen. RP Kalita, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command and Maninder Singh Additional Chief Secretary of Government of Assam,
Lt. Gen Kalita, also addressed the gathering and spoke about the rich tradition of the Durand Cup and its long association with the Indian Armed Forces.
Also Watch: