Bengaluru to host SAFF Championship in June

AIFF Media 

The SAFF Championship 2023 will be hosted in Bengaluru, Karnataka, from June 21 to July 3, 2023, All India Football Federation President Mr. Kalyan Chaubey announced in the city on Sunday, March 19, 2023.

AIFF Secretary General Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran was present on the occasion, along with AIFF Vice President and Karnataka State Football Association President Mr. NA Haris and Karnataka Olympic Association President Dr. K Govindaraj.

This will be the 14th edition of the tournament, and India will be hosting it for the fourth time. Over the years, the Blue Tigers have asserted their dominance in the SAFF Championship, winning it eight times; the Maldives are the closest to India, having won the title twice.

The 2023 SAFF Championship will be played from June 21 to July 3, with all member associations of the SAFF are expected to fight it out for the top prize.

The tournament will see the teams divided into two groups and play round-robin matches in the group stage, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the semi-finals. The date for the Draw will be announced later.

"It is an extremely happy occasion for me to announce to all of you that we would be hosting the SAFF Championship in Bengaluru in June/July this year," said Mr. Chaubey. "SAFF is a great opportunity for us to promote love and brotherhood between all the countries in the South Asian region, and I am sure that the players of each National Team will do everything in their power to give a great account of their countries.

"I would like to welcome all the visiting teams with open arms, as we promote brotherhood across borders. Football is one of the most powerful ways to spread the message of love between people, and it is a moment of pride for us to be able to host all of them," he said.

A former India International, Mr. Chaubey had won the SAFF Championship on two occasions with the Blue Tigers – 1999 in Goa, and 2005 in Karachi.

"I’ve myself won the SAFF Championship on two occasions, and I can tell you from a player’s perspective how special it is to lift that trophy, and get that medal," said Mr. Chaubey. "I am sure all of our players will be raring to go and play out there with big hearts."

 

Final 20-member squad for 2013 SAFF Championship named

Coach Wim Koevermans named his squad of 20 for the forthcoming SAFF Championship, team leaves for Kathmandu on Tuesday, August 27. 
India is grouped in Group A along with Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Group B consists of Afghanistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. 
The Bangalore connection will be in the form of Bengaluru FC's striker duo Sunil Chettri and Robin Singh. 

Squad

Goalkeepers: Subrata Paul, Karanjit Singh, Sandip Nandy

Defenders: Nirmal Chettri, Arnab Mondal, Gouramangi Singh, Raju Gaikwad, Sandesh Jhingan, Mohanraj Nalappan

Midfielders: Syed Rahim Nabi, Mehtab Hossain, Arata Izumi, Lenny Rodriguez, Alwyn George, Jewel Raja Shaikh, Francis Fernandes

Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh, Dawson Fernandes, Jeje Lalpekhlua


Fixture

• September 1, 2013, 6:30 pm: India Vs Pakistan
• September 3, 2013, 3:30 pm: India Vs Bangladesh
• September 5, 2013, 3:30 pm: India Vs Nepal

Semifinals

• September 8, 2013, 6:30 pm: 
• September 9, 2013, 6:30 pm: 

Final

• September 11, 2013, 6:30 pm:

Public banned from watching India practice match

The practice match (http://www.gcsstars.com/2013/08/national-team-to-play-against-bengaluru.html) between the senior Indian team and Bengaluru FC is going to be a closed door match - yes, you heard that right! 

No public as well and media will be allowed to enter the during the match time. The match is scheduled at Sunday, August 25, 4 pm, Bangalore Football Stadium. 

This decision, taken by the team management has been communicated to the state and district football association (KSFA and BDFA). To ensure proper functioning, the authorities might seek help from the cops, perhaps to drive away people who will turn up for the match. 

What's extremely baffling is that with no cricket happening in the Garden City, this was an ideal time for football to get a good coverage, which would have brought good publicity to the SAFF Cup bound team. However, this doesn't seem to be the case. 

When we see other SAFF teams like Afghanistan and Maldives playing competitive matches, we're content with a 10-day camp, that too on a turf, on which the game will not be played in the SAFF championship. 

[Pictures] Senior India National SAFF Cup camp

Senior men’s national camp starts tomorrow

Senior men’s national team is set to start a 10-day camp at the Garden City from tomorrow. Task cut out for coach Wim Koevermans post Tajikistan friendly debacle, as he gets few days’ time with his team work on the areas of improvement. 

The camp will conclude on August 26 and team India will kick start their SAFF Cup campaign from September 1 at Katmandu, Nepal. 

It was exactly a year ago, under the newly appointed coach Wim, the team prepared for the Nehru Cup at same venue. That time, owing to incessant rain, the venue was shifted from Noida to Bangalore. The team later went ahead retained Nehru Cup. 

Read the Bangalore report from here - http://www.gcsstars.com/2012/08/nehru-cup-2012-koevermans-has-task-cut.html.