Kolkata, Jul 12 (IANS): Gokulam Kerala FC, one of the two prominent football clubs of Kerala, the other being Kerala Blasters FC, will not be participating in this year’s Durand Cup beginning July 27. The name of Gokulam Kerala, which won the Durand Cup in the year 2019 defeating Mohun Bagan, now Mohun Bagan Super Giants, at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan stadium, Salt Lake here, did not feature in the six groups of the tournament announced recently.

The reason, according to a club official, is that the club is yet to start its pre-season camp pending an issue relating to playing ground with the Kozhikode Corporation.

“We haven’t started our pre-season camp owing to the ground issue”, the official informed IANS. “By the second week of August, we will be starting our pre-season camp as we have not yet resolved our issue regarding playing ground with the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation," the official said.

“Until the issue is sorted out, we cannot commit to any tournament,” the official added.

According to media reports, the Kozhikode Corporation is not renewing its contract for the maintenance of the EMS Corporation Stadium. The contract had not been renewed last year, either.

“It was after we wrote to the Chief Minister that we were able to play our matches at the stadium last season and we have already made the same request to him this year as well,” VC Praveen, Gokulam Kerala’s president was quoted as saying in a report in a leading newspaper.

Durand Cup, the oldest-existing tournament in Asia and the fifth oldest worldwide, and also the curtain-raiser for the Indian football season, will start on July 27 and will continue till August 31.

The 24-team competition, with clubs divided into six groups, will be played over four different venues -- Kolkata (Salt Lake Stadium, Kishore Bharati Krirangan); Jamshedpur (JRD Tata Sports Complex); Kokrajhar (SAI Stadium) and Shillong (Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium).