Venues and dates of Durand Cup revised

The group D matches of the Durand Cup’s latest season, that were supposed to take place in the city of Siliguri, have now been shifted to the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata. As per the changes announced on Monday, five of the six matches will be held at the Howrah Stadium, while the Mohun Bagan stadium, presently undergoing renovations, will play host to a solitary match. Chennaiyin FC, Gokulam Kerala, TRAU and Air Force constitute the four-team group D.

Meanwhile, the dates of Bengaluru FC’s fixtures have been revised and the ISL champions will be playing all their matches at the Salt Lake Stadium. The AFC accredited arena will be hosting 10 matches overall, including the semifinals and finals of the 129th edition of the tournament. 

Local teams Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting will kick start the historic tournament on August 2. The state of Bengal is surprisingly the venue for the tournament for the first time in its 131-year history and will feature all the three heavyweights from the state. Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have had the most success in the event, each having 16 titles to its name.

East Bengal Ground and Kalyani Ground are the other two venues where the 16 teams will be battling it out. The latter will play host to all of the group C matches, which includes the reigning champions Army Green.