Durand Cup, India's oldest football tournament will make its come back, after a 1-year hiatus, on 29th August with 12 teams in fray to win the coveted trophy. All the matches will be played at Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi.
The Prestigious Tournament couldn't be held last year due to lack of sponsor interest as all top I-League clubs couldn't field competitive teams as most of their best players were engaged in Indian Super League.
The participating teams in this year's edition will be Aizawl FC, Neroca FC, Sporting Clube de Goa, Dempo SC, DSK Shivajians, Minerva AFC, Gangtok Himalayan SC, Kashmir FC and teams from Armed forces namely Army Red, Army Green, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force.
JOINT PRESS RELEASE OF SPORTING CLUBE DE GOA & SALGAOCAR FC
The joint meeting between AIFF officials and the representatives of Goan clubs was held at Hotel Lapaz Gardens, Vasco on Friday evening. The meeting was attended by Mr. Shrinivas Dempo (Vice President AIFF), Shivanand Salgaocar (President Salgaocar FC), Mr. Peter Vaz (President Sporting Clube de Goa), Kushal Das (General Secretary – AIFF), Sunando Dhar (CEO I-League) Chirag Tanna (Reliance Sports), Vivek Salgaocar (Vice President Salgaocar FC), Victor Fernandes (CEO Sporting Clube de Goa), Adlear D’Cruz (General Secretary – Salgaocar FC), Eddie Noronha (General Secretary Sporting Clube de Goa), Wilfred D’Souza (General Secretary – Dempo SC)
The Goan Clubs (Salgaocar FC & Sporting Clube de Goa) jointly put forward the below mentioned 3 principal points.
· No forced relegation of the I-league to a second tier league from the nation’s premier competition. All teams qualified for the I-League should be part of the top league.
· No bidding & no franchise fees for existing I-League clubs, merit being the only qualifying factor.
· All governance issues should rest with AIFF exclusively.
The AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das agreed to call a meeting of all I-League clubs in order to elicit their views on the matter. He also will be consulting with the AIFF President and the executive committee along with their marketing partners IMG-Relience to revert back with a final binding proposal on or before 31st July 2016.
The two I league clubs Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa hold, that their decision to withdraw stands unless they receive a final binding proposal/roadmap which includes the above mentioned 3 points.
Comments
The Prestigious Tournament couldn't be held last year due to lack of sponsor interest as all top I-League clubs couldn't field competitive teams as most of their best players were engaged in Indian Super League.
The participating teams in this year's edition will be Aizawl FC, Neroca FC, Sporting Clube de Goa, Dempo SC, DSK Shivajians, Minerva AFC, Gangtok Himalayan SC, Kashmir FC and teams from Armed forces namely Army Red, Army Green, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force.
http://www.theindianleague.in/2016/07/durand-cup-to-start-in-august.html
https://sportscafe.in/articles/football/2016/jul/01/i-league-shrinivas-dempo-on-a-mission-to-convince-goan-clubs-from-ditching-league?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sportscafe