Mohun Bagan, East Bengal return to Durand Cup after 4 years

New Delhi: Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan and East Bengal will return to Durand Cup after a gap of four

years as the qualifiers for the more-than-a-century-old football tournament start September 2 at the Ambedkar Stadium here. Former I-League champions Dempo also return to the tournament after a gap of one year. The main round of the tournament, which starts from September 11, will see participation of nine I-League sides. Besides Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Dempo, the other I-League sides are Churchill Brothers, Sporting Clube-De-Goa, Mahindra United, JCT, Air India and Shillong Lajong. Army XI is the tenth team directly seeded into the quarterfinal round. The 122nd edition of the tournament, the third oldest in the world and oldest in Asia, will be conducted in two stages -- qualifying knock out and quarterfinal league rounds. The qualifying round, to be played from September 2 to September 22, will have 16 teams divided in two groups of eight each. Two teams from the qualifying round will join the 10 sides directly seeded into the quarterfinal league stage from September 11-18. The 12 teams will be divided into four groups of three each. The winner of each group qualifies for the semifinals on September 20. The final will be played on September 22. The tournament will have a total cash prize money of Rs 11 lakh out of which the winners will get Rs five lakh while the runners-up will pocket Rs 3 lakh. The two losing semifinalists will be richer by Rs one lakh each. The matches will be played under floodlights. Bureau Report