Durand prize purse hiked, 8 I-League clubs to compete

Its prize purse hiked from Rs 20 lakh to an impressive Rs 50 lakh, the 126th edition of Durand Cup football tournament, starting here from September 2, will see participation from top clubs like Mohammedan Sporting, Pune FC, Mumbai Tigers and Sikkim United, among others.
Defending champions Air India will also be part of the tournament, which is Asia's oldest and the world's third oldest.
This year the tournament will be conducted in two stages. Stage I will be qualifying round to be played on knockout basis and stage-II will be quarterfinal round to be played as a league cum knockout round.

While the qualifying round matches will start from September 2, real action will begin when the quarterfinals kick off on September 9, with the final slated to be held on 19th at the Ambedkar Stadium.
There will be a total of eight I-League teams competing in the event from the quarterfinals onward, and they will be joined by two qualifiers.
The quarterfinal league will see two groups consisting of six teams each.
Besides Mohammedan Sporting, Sikkim United, Pune FC, Mumbai Tigers and Air India, ONGC, Kolkata's Bhawanipur FC and Kalighat are the two other clubs who will complete the seeded teams.