The 2012 Durand Cup was the 125th season of the Durand Cup, the third oldest football tournament in the world, which is a knock-out competition held in India. Churchill Brothers were the current holders, having beaten Prayag United in the 2011 Final.
The Quarter-Finals of the Durand Cup shall be played between 12 teams. Five of the teams currently play in 2012–13 I-League, two played in the 2012 I-League 2nd Division and one currently play in the Mumbai Football League. The other four spots would have been taken up by the top three teams from the preliminary round plus one service team. However, on 22 August 2012 it was announced that HAL SC would withdraw from the tournament (along with Churchill Brothers S.C. who withdrew before the initial list of teams was released) and thus freeing an extra space. So in order to fill it up the Durand Football Committee decided to qualify the four teams remaining in the preliminary rounds.[3] Therefore, Delhi United FC, FC Punjab Police, Assam Rifles FC, and CRPF FC will qualify directly for the Quarter-Finals.[3]