Excelsior Sports Correspondent
UDHAMPUR, July 4: The trophy tour for the 132nd edition of the historic Durand Cup Football tournament, reached Udhampur, the Northern Command headquarters of the Indian Army in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The three glittering Durand trophies were received amidst much fervor by Lieutenant General Anindya Sengupta, Chief of Staff, Headquarters Northern Command as well as Nazeer Andrabi, President of J&K Football Federation, 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 Dr. Rajendra Prasad, India’s first President, in 1956).
The trophies were jointly flagged-off for 17-cities, trophy Tour on 30 June, 2023 from 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 is the third-stop in the tour after the Trophies travelled to Dehradun on Sunday. The other cities that the tour will cover include Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune, Karwar, Kochi, Ezhimala, Bengaluru, Willington, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kokrajhar, Shillong and Aizawl, before flagging-into Kolkata in 1 August, 2023.
Lieutenant General Anindya Sengupta said, “The legend of Durand originated in the Shimla in 1888. It is an honour and a pleasure to be receiving the Durand trophies here and a momentous occasion. Football is the most popular sport in the world for a reason and Indian Army is proud to be associated with a globally renowned tournament like Durand Cup. I wish the all the teams the very best in the tournament including our friendly neighboring Service teams from Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.”
The ceremony was attended by players of various local football clubs, school children, NCC Cadets, Officers, JCOs and Troops of Udhampur Garrison. The 132nd Durand Cup begins on 3 August-2023. This time the Durand Cup will have 24 teams, up from 20 last times, including all 12 Indian Super League (ISL) sides. Teams from foreign countries will also be participating in the legacy tournament after a gap of 27 years.
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