The Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, together with the Eastern Command of the Indian Armed Forces, will hold an event to unveil the Durand Cup 2023 trophy on Friday.
The 132nd edition of Durand Cup will be held from August 3 to September 3.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma will attend as the chief guest at the unveiling event to be held at the State Convention Centre here at 1:30pm followed by the roadshow and trophy display at Khyndailad from 3:30pm onwards.
Although Shillong was named as one of the co-host cities, it has been dropped as none of its grounds are suitable. Although the Meghalaya government has been pushing for it, the JN Stadium’s new natural turf pitch has barely been laid and spectator seating and dressing rooms are not ready. Instead, all the matches will be held in Guwahati, Kokrajhar and Kolkata.
This year’s tournament will witness the participation of 24 teams, including all 12 Indian Super League sides plus foreign teams from neighboring countries Bangladesh and Nepal, which marks the return of foreign participation after a hiatus of 27 years.
Meghalaya’s Shillong Lajong FC will be making their tournament debut and have been drawn in Group D where they will play their opening match against NorthEast United FC on August 4 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.
Bengaluru FC are the defending champions, having defeated Mumbai City FC in the 2022 final. The teams have been drawn into six groups of four each. Six group winners and the two best second placed sides will make the knockout stage.
Guwahati and Kokrajhar will also get to host a quarterfinal fixture each, with all the remaining knockouts, including the September 3 final, to be played in Kolkata.
