Durand Cup is considered one of the biggest and oldest football tournaments in Asia. It is also the 3rd oldest football tournament in the world. The dates of the Durand Cup are set, it is to be played in September- October. This is the 130th edition of this Durand Cup and 16 teams have participated in this year’s competition. However, Durand Cup was also scheduled last year, but due to COVID 19 pandemic, the officials had to cancel it. Even this year, the officials have decided to conduct this tournament with strict restrictions. The match will be played under COVID-19 guidelines which mean the fans won’t be allowed to see these matches.
The 2021 Durand Cup has 6 teams from Indian Super League and 6 teams from the I-League and 4 armed forces teams. It will be held in Kolkata starting from the first week of September. The 6 teams from the Indian super league who are participating in this Durand Cup are: –
1. ATK Mohun Bagan
2. Hyderabad Fc
3. FC Goa
4. Kerala Blasters
5. Mumbai City FC
6. Northeast United
The 6 participating teams from I- League includes: –
1. Gokulam Kerala
2. Real Kashmir
3. TRAU
4. Mohammedan
5. Churchill Brothers
6. Punjab
Gokulam Kerala is the defending champions in this year’s Durand Cup. In the 2019 final match, Gokulam Kerala played against Mohun Bagan and won the match as well as the cup. The 3rd oldest tournament was founded in 1888, the person named Mortimer Durand started this tournament. SC East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are the teams who have won this tournament 16 times. The 2021 Durand Cup will come to an end in October’s first week.