Udhampur, July 4: The trophy tour for the 132nd edition of the historic Durand Cup Football tournament, reached Udhampur, the Headquarter (HQ) Northern Command of the Indian army in Jammu & Kashmir.
PRO Defence Lt Col Devender Anand, in an official statement, said that three glittering Durand trophies were received amidst much fervour by the Lieutenant General Anindya Sengupta, Chief of Staff, HQ Northern Command as well as Nazeer Andrabi, president of the J&K Football Federation, among other dignitaries.
The three trophies, unique to the tournament are, the Durand Cup (a rolling trophy and the original prize), the Shimla Trophy (also a rolling trophy and first given by the resident of Shimla in 1904) and the President’s Cup (for permanent keep and first presented by Dr Rajendra Prasad, India’s first President, in 1956). The trophies were jointly flagged-off for a 17-city ‘Trophy tour’ on Friday i.e., June 30, 2023, in Delhi, by General Manoj Pande, Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army, Air Chief Marshal VK Chaudhary, Chief of Air Staff and Kalyan Chaubey, President, All India Football Federation (AIFF). Udhampur is the third-stop in the tour after the Trophies travelled to Dehradun on Sunday.
The other cities that the tour will cover include Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune, Karwar, Kochi, Ezhimala, Bengaluru, Willington, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kokrajhar, Shillong and Aizawl, before flagging-into Kolkata on August 1, 2023.
Speaking on the occasion, Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta said, “The legend of Durand originated in Shimla in 1888. It is an honour and a pleasure to be receiving the Durand trophies here and a momentous occasion. Football is the most popular sport in the world for a reason and the Indian Army is proud to be associated with a globally renowned tournament like Durand Cup. I wish all the teams the very best in the tournament including our friendly neighbouring Service teams from Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.”