Durand Cup Trophy tour conducted in Mumbai

The Trophy tour for upcoming 132nd edition of prestigious Durand Cup Football tournament, was undertaken in Mumbai with great enthusiasm on 08 Jul 2023. The three magnificent Durand Trophies were received at Army Officers Institute AOI in Colaba in a ceremony by Chief Guest, VAdm Dinesh K Tripathi, FOCINC, WNC and Lt Gen HS Kahlon, GOC, HQM G and G Area. The trophies were flagged off from Colaba and taken across Mumbai for display. They were showcased at the historic Gateway of India and iconic Marine Drive. The three Trophies unique to tournament are, Durand Cup (a rolling trophy and the original prize), Shimla Trophy (also a rolling trophy and first given by the residents of Shimla in 1904) and President's Cup (first presented by Dr. Rajendra Prasad in 1956). Earlier trophies were jointly flagged-off from New Delhi for a 17-city Trophy Tour across India on 30 Jun 2023 by Army Chief, IAF Chief and President of All India Football Federation AIFF. Mumbai is the fifth-stop in tour after Trophies travelled to Dehradun, Udhampur and Pune. The other cities that tour will cover include Jaipur, Karwar, Kochi, Ezhimala, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kokrajhar, Shillong and Aizawl, before flagging-into Kolkata on 01 Aug 2023. The 132nd Durand Cup begins on 03 Aug 2023 in Kolkata with finals on 03 Sep 2023. This edition of Durand Cup will have 24 teams, up from 20 in last edition, including all 12 Indian Super League ISL sides. Service teams from neighbouring foreign countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal will also be participating in legacy tournament, marking foreign participation in legendary tournament after a long gap of 27 years.