Sunil Chhetri is all set to play in the Durand Cup after nine years as Bengaluru FC have decided to field their in Asia’s oldest tournament.

The Durand Cup will be played in Calcutta, Guwahati, and Imphal from August 16 and the final is slated for September 25, a week before the Durga Puja begins.

The last time Chhetri played in the Durand was in 2013-14 — the first year of Bengaluru FC — when they lost to Salgaocar in the tie-breakers in the last-four stage. The Durand Cup is the only trophy which is missing from the Bengaluru FC captain’s cabinet despite having played a couple of finals and semi-finals.

It was in this tournament in New Delhi some 20 years back that Chhetri, playing for Delhi-based City FC, was first spotted by Mohun Bagan. He came for the trials, got selected and the rest, as they say, is history.

Bengaluru FC’s pre-season is likely to begin in the later part of this month under the watchful eyes of new coach Simon Grayson. Chhetri currently is vacationing in Europe. The India captain, who turns 38 on August 3, played a stellar role in the national team’s qualification for the AFC Asian Cup main round scoring four goals in three matches here in June.

Durand Cup, from this season onwards, has been cleared by the Asian Football Confederation to be compliant with its entry manual guidelines and is the curtain raiser to the Indian football season.

Eleven teams from the ISL, three I-League clubs, four Army teams and two from Manipur will feature in the 131st edition. The organisers have planned a Durand Cup tour in five places — Guwahati, Imphal, Calcutta, Jaipur and Goa — from the third week of this month. While Guwahati, Imphal and Calcutta are the venues, Jaipur comes in since Rajasthan United will be playing for the first time. Goa has been chosen since FC Goa are the defending champions.

I-League teams like Sreendi Deccan and Churchill Brothers have decided to pull out of the meet this time.

Chelsea duo to miss US tour

Chelsea midfielders N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will not feature in the club’s pre-season tour to the United States due to their Covid-19 vaccination status, the Premier League side said on Saturday.

Entry rules for the US say that all visitors over 18, barring American citizens and other limited exceptions, must be double vaccinated against the virus.

It was unclear whether the two players were unvaccinated or had received only one dose.

“N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will not travel due to their Covid vaccination status,” Chelsea said in a statement.

Loftus-Cheek tested positive for Covid-19 in August last year while France international Kante returned a positive test ahead of a Champions League group game against Juventus the following month.

Left back Ben Chilwell and winger Callum Hudson-Odoi, who both missed large chunks of last season through injury, were included in the 29-man squad that will play three games in the U.S starting with Club America on July 16.

Reuters