123rd Durand Cup starts tomorrow

The 123rd Durand Cup will kick-off tomorrow in New Delhi with the qualifiers tomorrow with the finals slated for November 7. India's oldest football tournament, which happens to be the worlds third oldest tournament, will see 16 teams taking part in the qualifiers, while two teams would move on to the quarterfinal league group stage were eight I-League sides besides Army Red and Sporting Clube de Goa would be waiting. Goa's Churchill Brothers are the defending champions, while Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan AC have opted not to play the tournament.

Altogether 16 teams have been accommodated in the qualifying knockout rounds. They are - four teams from the Army; one team each from Indian Navy and Indian Air Force; two teams from paramilitary forces - Border Security Force and Assam Rifles; outstation teams in Uttarakhand Police; Jammu&Kashmir Bank, Srinagar; Tata Football Academy; Vasco SC and Amity United FC, Haryana; besides local sides Ahbab SC, Garhwal Heroes and Indian National FC. These teams have been divided into two groups of eight teams each with the qualifiers to be played from September 17 to 24. The winner of each group will qualify for the quarterfinal league stage to be played from October 27

Ten teams are directly seeded into the quarterfinal league. These teams are - Dempo SC, Churchill Brothers SC, Salgaocar SC, Sporting Clube de Goa, East Bengal Club, Chirag United SC, JCT, Air India, Pune FC and Army Red. The two winner teams from the qualifying knockout rounds will join these sides to make the tally of twelve teams for the Quarterfinal league. These teams have been divided into four groups of three teams each. The winner of each group will qualify for the semifinals.

The teams have been divided into following groups

Group 1: Churchill Brothers SC, Army Red, Qualifier A
Group 2: Chirag United SC, Pune FC, Qualifier B
Group 3: Dempo SC, JCT, Sporting Clube de Goa
Group 4: Salgaocar SC, East Bengal Club, Air India


All matches of the Tournament have been thrown open to the public without tickets on first come first serve basis. Matches will be played at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi.