India’s ASEAN move pushes SAFF C’ship to Nov

Panaji: The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) has been forced to postpone its blue riband regional men’s championship due to India’s participation in the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup, scheduled to be played later this year.

The organisers initially planned to host the SAFF Championship during the Sept 21-Oct 6 international window where member associations are allowed to feature in four games. But with India accepting an invitation from the governing body for world football to take part in the FIFA ASEAN Cup during the same window, SAFF will instead organise its championship in November.

“Based on the country’s size, football (stature) and the market, it’s very important for us to have India at the SAFF championship,” SAFF general secretary Purushottam Kattel told TOI on Sunday. “We have communicated with all our seven member associations and got their consent to have the tournament during Nov (window) in Bangladesh.”

The nine-day window is from Nov 9-17, not long enough to accommodate a seven-team competition, which normally involves a league and knockout stage. The organisers have now made alternative plans with the championship kicking off a few days before the window.

“We need to see how the registration process will look like. There are a lot of foreign-based players, especially for countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) that allow dual citizenship. They have players (based) abroad. We will have to start the tournament a bit early,” said Kattel.

India have won the last two editions of the championship. The Blue Tigers defeated Kuwait 5-4 on penalties to claim the 2023 title on a memorable night at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. The tournament, for the first time, saw participation of two teams – Lebanon, Kuwait -- from outside the region and turned out to be the biggest and most competitive regional championship.

There were suggestions that India could depute its under-23 team for SAFF Championship, if it clashed with ASEAN Cup. But with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) still hopeful of obtaining govt permission to take part in Asian Games, the regional championship would end up getting devalued.

“Sending an under-23 team would have been damaging for the competition,” said Kattel. “Also, if India takes part in the Asian Games, the team would be weaker. No team wants to come to SAFF and lose; there’s pride at stake. Nov suits everyone, even if it’s a short window.”