• President Droupadi Murmu unveiled the trophies of the Durand Cup Tournament, organised by the Indian Army, at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on July 4.

• The event was also attended by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces Anil Chauhan, chief of Indian Army Upendra Dwivedi, chief Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh and chief of Indian Navy Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi.

• A total of 24 teams will vie for the top honours in the 134th edition of the Durand Cup. 

• The tournament will be played across five states from July 23 till August 23.

• The 24 teams will be divided into six groups and the world’s third oldest tournament will be played in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya and Assam.

• The Durand Cup Tournament was first held in 1888.

• It is Asia’s oldest football tournament.

• It was named after its founder Sir Mortimer Durand, who was then the Foreign Secretary in charge of India. 

• The inaugural edition took place in Shimla, when it started off as an Army Cup, open only to the British Indian Army troops in India, but soon opened up to include civilian football clubs.

The winning team gets three trophies:

i) The Durand Cup (a rolling trophy and the original prize).

ii) The Shimla Trophy (also a rolling trophy and first given by the residents of Shimla in 1904).

iii) The President’s Cup (for permanent keep and first presented by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, India’s first President, in 1956). 

• The tournament is conducted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) under the aegis of All India Football Federation (AIFF).

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store