The draw of the 14th version of the South Asian Soccer Federation Cup was held right here on Wednesday with defending champions India, Pakistan, Kuwait and Nepal being clubbed in Group A. Lebanon, Maldives, Bangladesh and Bhutan are in Group B.
The group matches might be performed in a round-robin league format and the highest two groups in every group will qualify for the semifinals of the eight-nation regional match to be performed on the Kanteerava Stadium.
Lebanon and Kuwait — the 2 international locations exterior of South Asia — had been invited to make the match extra aggressive. Lebanon are the best ranked aspect within the match at 99th whereas Pakistan are the bottom at 195th. India are the second highest ranked aspect at 101st.
India and Pakistan final performed in opposition to one another in September 2018 within the semifinal of the 12th version of the SAFF Cup in Dhaka. India received that match 3-1 however misplaced to Maldives 1-2 within the last.
Total, India and Pakistan have formally performed greater than 20 worldwide matches. Of the 2, India have been the dominant aspect with greater than a dozen wins underneath their belt.
India have received the SAFF Cup eight instances whereas ending runners-up 4 instances. The one time India didn’t attain the ultimate was within the fifth version in 2003 in Dhaka when the nation completed third.
The All India Soccer Federation (AIFF) is hopeful that Pakistan gamers and assist workers will get visas to participate within the match.
“Pakistan has confirmed its participation within the match, that’s the reason they’re right here within the draw. All of the international locations of the South Asian area have the suitable to play on this match,” AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey stated after the draw.
“However issues like grant of visas, offering safety to the groups, these are usually not the job of any soccer federation of any nation. The AIFF administration will coordinate with the involved ministries of the federal government and we’ll get the reply with the passage of time.”
AIFF secretary basic Shaji Prabhakaran advised PTI that the Pakistani contingent has already utilized for visas to journey to India and the processing of purposes has begun.
“We do not see any concern there. They (Pakistan contingent) have already utilized for the visas and processing has begun,” stated Prabhakaran, who was additionally current on the draw ceremony.
Pakistan didn’t characteristic in two tournaments out of the 13 editions held up to now since 1993.
The Pakistan Soccer Federation couldn’t ship its staff within the 2015 version held in India attributable to inner points. The nation missed the 2021 version in Maldives because it was serving suspension from FIFA. The suspension was lifted in June final 12 months.
Requested if the AIFF has received any assurance from the federal government for the protected conduct of the match, Chaubey stated, “The slogan of FIFA (world governing physique) is FIFA unites the world by means of soccer. AIFF is a member affiliation of FIFA.
“We do not have a look at the caste, creed and faith underneath the FIFA Constitution. When a participant will get right down to the bottom sporting his or her nationwide jersey, you do not have a look at the caste and faith of that participant, the participant represents his or her nation.
“Furthermore, we will not host a global match with out permission from the federal government.”
SAFF basic secretary Anwar-ul Huq stated that the collaborating international locations have assured the organisers that they are going to ship their first nationwide groups.
“We will guarantee you that Lebanon, Kuwait and all different collaborating groups will ship their full nationwide groups,” he stated.
“We may have introduced different international locations as urged by the AIFF, however their nationwide groups had been engaged, and we didn’t need any age-group groups for this match.”
SAFF Cup fixtures:
June 21: Kuwait vs Nepal, 3.30 pm IST; India vs Pakistan, 7.30 pm IST.
June 22: Lebanon vs Bangladesh, 3.30 pm IST; Maldives vs Bhutan, 7.30 pm IST.
June 24: Pakistan vs Kuwait, 3.30 pm IST; Nepal vs India, 7.30 pm IST.
June 25: Bangladesh vs Maldives, 3.30 pm IST; Bhutan vs Lebanon, 7.30 pm IST.
June 27: Nepal vs Pakistan, 3.30 pm IST; India vs Kuwait, 7.30 pm IST.
June 28: Lebanon vs Maldives, 3.30 pm IST; Bhutan vs Bangladesh, 7.30 pm IST.
July 1: Semi finals
July 4: Remaining.
