Durand: Defending champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant and their archrivals East Bengal FC, the two finalists from the previous edition, have been drawn together in the same group as the group stage draw for the upcoming Durand Cup 2024 was unveiled on Thursday. The 24 teams from the ISL, I-League, international teams, and teams from the Armed Forces will fight it out in Asia's oldest football tournament, scheduled to commence on July 27. Notably, international teams will also feature with Nepal's Tribhuvan Army FC and Bangladesh Army Football Team, both returning from the previous edition.
With a recent regulation by the national federation – AIFF – barring the employment of foreign players in the domestic football leagues, the CFL derby saw the two sides with only Indian names locking horns in the battle of prestige. This was also the first meeting between the two rivals in CFL after a break of five years (they last met in the local league in 2019). The CFL also put in place a rule that mandated every participating team to have a minimum of four ‘sons of soil’ in the playing eleven.
Mohun Bagan SG managed to pull one back late in injury time (90+6 minutes) through its Kashmiri recruit, Suhail Bhat. East Bengal was reduced to 10 men in the 77th minute when Joseph Justin was marched off following his second booking.
This year, Jamshedpur and Shillong join Kokrajhar and Kolkata as host cities, with each hosting group stage fixtures. Kolkata, the main venue, will host three groups, while Jamshedpur, Shillong, and Kokrajhar will each host one group. Here are the groups for Durand Cup 2024:
Group A (Kolkata): Mohun Bagan SG, East Bengal FC, Indian Air Force FT, Downtown Heroes FC
Group B (Kolkata): Bengaluru FC, Inter Kashi FC, Indian Navy FT, Mohammedan SC
Group C (Kolkata): Kerala Blasters FC, Mumbai City FC, Punjab FC, CISF Protectors FT
Group D (Jamshedpur): Jamshedpur FC, Chennaiyin FC, Indian Army FT, Bangladesh Army FT
Group E (Kokrajhar): Odisha FC, NorthEast United FC, Bodoland FC, BSF FT
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