The main Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee started the historical 134. The edition of the Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament in Asia, with a spectacular opening ceremony at the Kolkata Salt Lake stadium. This year’s event comes with an increase in winnings almost three times, and the winners took home an incredible 3 crore rupees.
Banerjee, which traditionally begins this iconic tournament, was back after the missing season due to official duties in Delhi. Formally, the tournament started by acquiring a symbolic shot for the ball and joined the event as Minister of Sport Aroop Biswas, Minister of Firefighters Sujit Bose and Foreign Minister for Sports Manoi Tiwars along with higher Indian army officials.
The Chief Minister of West Bengal spoke about the rich history of the Durand Cup, one of the oldest football tournaments in the world, which took place for the first time in 1888. Borejee also said she was proud to attend four teams from Calcutta this year.
“Especially because it started in Bengal, and this time four teams from Bengal are participating,” she said.
But Borejee was not interested in any questions about the Indian Super League, which has been suspended at the moment.
“Please don’t ask me here. This is not the right place.”
The opening ceremony saw Flypast from three Indian Army helicopters, and also introduced dancers who performed to the song written by Mamata Banerjee. Various army divisions also represented various dance forms such as Bhangra, Rabindra Nritya and Khuri dance during the ceremony.
This year, 24 teams will participate in the tournament, along with two teams from Nepal and Malaysia. The final of the tournament will take place on 23 August
Durand Cup 2025: Teams and Groups
- Group A.: East Bengal FC, Indian Air Force FT, Namdhari FC, South United FC
- Group B: Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Mohammedan SC, Diamond Harbor FC, Border Security Force FT
- Group C: Jamshedpur fc, Tribhuvan Army ft, Indian army ft, 1 ladakh fc
- Group D: Punjab FC, ITBP FT, Karbi Anglong Morning Star FC, Bodoland FC
- Group E: Shilllong Lajong FC, Northeast United FC, Malaysian Armed Forces, Rangdjing United FC
- Group f: Tru FC, Neroca FC, Real Kashmir FC, Indian Navy FT
– ends
Published on:
July 24, 2025
