The 130th Durand Cup received overwhelming responses from fans with competitive games and lots and lots of goals. Seeing the response, the tournament was thrown open to spectators in a phased manner from the quarter-final stage onwards and one semi-final saw in excess of 20 thousand fans, the final is expecting a crowd of close to 34,000 people.
Durand Cup (Defence photo)
The 130th edition of the iconic Durand Cup, Asia’s oldest and the world’s third oldest Football tournament, will successfully conclude today with the final game between local favourites Mohammedan Sporting and top ISL franchise side FC Goa, scheduled for a 6 pm kick-off at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK).
The pre-match ceremonies will begin half an hour prior to kick-off and will include Band Display, playing of the Durand Theme Song and introduction of Trophies among other activities, before the Honourable Chief Guest, Mr Jagdeep Dhankhar, Honourable Governor of West Bengal is introduced to both the teams just ahead of the game.
The 130th Durand Cup was jointly conducted by the Armed Forces with the support of the Govt of West Bengal (Sports ministry). The tournament took shape under the guidance of Gen. Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), and Lt Gen. Manoj Pande, Army Cdr Eastern Command and was steered amidst these challenging times by Lt. Gen. K.K. Repswal, Chief of Staff, Eastern Command and Chairman, Local Organizing Committee.
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It was played at the three venues of VYBK, Mohun Bagan ground and Kalyani Stadium from September 5- October 3, 2021, with a total of 30 matches featuring 16 teams from the length and breadth of the country, including five teams from India’s top league ISL, three from the I-league, two from the second division and six teams representing the Armed and Paramilitary forces of the country.
The 130th Durand Cup received overwhelming responses from fans with competitive games and lots and lots of goals. Seeing the response, the tournament was thrown open to spectators in a phased manner from the quarter-final stage onwards and one semi-final saw in excess of 20 thousand fans, the final is expecting a crowd of close to 34,000 people.
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