2015 SAFF Championship

2015 SAFF Championship
Tournament details
Host country India
Dates June [1]
Teams 8
Venue(s) 2 (in 1 host city)

The 2015 SAFF Championship will be the 11th SAFF Championship, an international South Asian association football tournament that is scheduled to take place in December at New Delhi or Goa according to AIFF. As defending champions, Afghanistan joined the Central Asian Football Federation, but in February 2015, Afghanistan's Secretary General, Seyed Reza Aghazadeh, announced that Afghanistan would participate in their last championship in 2015.[2]

Host Selection

During the 10th SAFF Championship in Nepal, it was understood that India expressed interest in becoming an applicant nation. A meeting with the SAFF executives took place on September 10, 2013 in Kathmandu, Nepal to finalise plans for the next host.[3][4] With this, India was selected to be the hosts of the 2015 tournament.[5] This will make India the host of the SAFF Championship for the third time.

Participating Nations

Along with the hosts, the other seven nations from the South Asian region will participate in the championship. Afghanistan will come into the tournament as the reigning champions from the 2013 edition.

Team Appearances
in the SAFF Championship		 Previous best performance FIFA Ranking
at start of event
   Nepal 11th Third-Place (1993) –
 Afghanistan 7th Champions (2013) –
 Bangladesh 6th Champions (2003) –
 Bhutan 7th Semi-finals (2008) –
 India 11th Champions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011) –
 Maldives 9th Champions (2008) –
 Pakistan 11th Third-Place (1997) –
 Sri Lanka 11th Champions (1995) –

Group Draw

Teams

 India (Host) 3rd seed
 Bangladesh
 Maldives 2nd seed
 Pakistan

 Afghanistan (Defending Champions) 1st seed
 Bhutan
   Nepal
 Sri Lanka

(The FIFA rankings of the teams at the start of the tournament are given in brackets in the table)

Group Stage

Groups

Group A

2015 SAFF Championship Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 India 000000+00
TBD 000000+00
TBD 000000−00
TBD 000000−00

Group B

2015 SAFF Championship Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
TBD 000000+00
TBD 000000+00
TBD 000000−00
TBD 000000−00

References

  1. ↑ Marcus Mergulhao (21 March 2015). "Delhi to host SAFF Cup in June". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Last Afghanistan championship". Goal Nepal. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "SAFF Championship: India Is Likely To Host 2015 Edition". Goal Nepal. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  4. ↑ "India will host 2015 SAFF Championship". Cover India Live. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  5. ↑ "2015 SAFF Championship to be held in India". Sports Keeda. Retrieved 10 September 2013.

External links