2023 SAFF Championship

The 2023 SAFF Championship will be the 14th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's football championship of South Asia organised by South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The event will be held in India from 21 June to 4 July 2023.[1][2][3][4]

2023 SAFF Championship
Tournament details
Host countryIndia
Dates21 June – 4 July
Teams8 (from 2 sub-confederations)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)

India are the defending champions, who won their eighth title in 2021 by defeating Nepal in the final.[5][6][7][8]

Host selection

Football Sri Lanka initially expressed their interest to bid for hosting the tournament, at the SAFF Executive Committee meeting on 17 October 2021 in the Maldives.[9] But, FIFA suspended Sri Lanka on 21 January 2023. So, they are unable to host as well as participate.[10]

Later, Anwarul Haq Helal, the general secretary of SAFF unofficially told media that only Nepal had applied for hosting rights till the deadline (i.e. 29 January 2023).[11] However, the host was supposed to be announced only after the SAFF members' meeting during 33rd AFC Congress 2023 in Manama, Bahrain on 1 February 2023.

On 14 February 2023, India were declared as hosts of the 14th edition of the championship. The centralized venue, however, would be declared on 10 March 2023 by the AIFF.[12][13]

On 19 March 2023, AIFF announced Bengaluru as host city for SAFF Championship 2023.[14]

Participating nations

Football Sri Lanka was sanctioned by FIFA on 21 January 2023, which made them ineligible for participation in the competition.[15] Kuwait and Lebanon have been invited as guest teams with a view to increase the number of teams for the championship and make the event more competitive.[16][17]

Country Appearance Previous best performance FIFA ranking
6 April 2023
 Bangladesh 13th Champions (2003) 192
 Bhutan 9th Semi-finals (2008) 185
 India 14th Champions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2021) 101
 Kuwait 1st – 143
 Lebanon 1st – 99
 Maldives 12th Champions (2008, 2018) 154
   Nepal 14th Runner-up (2021) 174
 Pakistan 12th Third-Place (1997) 195

Squads

For the list of squads,

Main article: 2023 SAFF Championship squads

Venue

The Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru,India will host all the matches.

Bengaluru, India
Sree Kanteerava Stadium
Capacity: 25,810

Draw

The draw ceremony of this tournament were held on 17 May 2023 12:30 IST at New Delhi, India.[18]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
 India (101) (hosts)
 Lebanon (99)		  Kuwait (143)
 Maldives (154)		    Nepal (174)
 Bhutan (185)		  Bangladesh (192)
 Pakistan (195)

Draw result
Group A Group B
 India  Lebanon
 Kuwait  Maldives
   Nepal  Bhutan
 Pakistan  Bangladesh

Officials

Group stage
All times are local, IST (UTC+5:30).

The precise format and schedule of the SAFF Championship are yet to be approved. However, the currently proposed format is the group-knockout format for the tournament, like in the 2018 edition.[19]

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  India (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualified for semi-finals
2  Kuwait 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3    Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Pakistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on 21 June 2023. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) drawing of lots
(H) Host
Kuwait v   Nepal
India v Pakistan
Pakistan v Kuwait
Nepal   v India
Nepal   v Pakistan
India v Kuwait

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Lebanon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualified for semi-finals
2  Maldives 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Bhutan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Bangladesh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on 22 June 2023. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) drawing of lots
Lebanon v Bangladesh
Maldives v Bhutan
Bangladesh v Maldives
Bhutan v Lebanon
Lebanon v Maldives
Bhutan v Bangladesh

Knockout stage

Bracket
 
Semi-FinalFinal
 
      
 
1 July 2023
 
 
Champion Group A
 
4 July 2023
 
Runner-up Group B
 
Winner SF1
 
1 July 2023
 
Winner SF2
 
Champion Group B
 
 
Runner-up Group A
 

Semi-finals
Champion Group AvRunner-up Group B
Champion Group BvRunner-up Group A

Final
Main article: 2023 SAFF Championship final
Winner SF1vWinner SF2

Statistics

Awards
Most Valuable Player Top Scorer Fair Play

Goalscorers

Source: Soccerway

Discipline
Player Offences Suspensions

Media coverage
Country Broadcaster Ref.
 Bangladesh TBD
 Bhutan TBD
 India TBD
 Maldives TBD
   Nepal TBD
 Pakistan TBD

See also

References
  1. "Kazi Md. Salahuddin Re-Elected As President". SAFF. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  2. "SAFF C'ship likely in new format". newagebd. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  3. "Bengaluru to host 2023 SAFF Championship". Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  4. "SAFF EX.CO CONFIRMS DATE AND VENUE OF SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP 2023". SAFF. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  5. "India Blank Nepal 3-0 to Win SAFF Championship for 8th Time, Sunil Chhetri Equals Lionel Messi With 80 Goals". News18. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  6. "SAFF Championship 2021 Final: India defeats Nepal 3-0 to lift title for the eighth time". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  7. "India crowned SAFF champions for 8th time as Sunil Chhetri leads Blue Tigers to 3-0 win over Nepal". India Today. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  8. "Chhetri's India win 8th SAFF Championship title, captain equals Messi in 3-0 drubbing of Nepal - Football News". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  9. "FSL keen to host 2023 SAFF Tourney". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  10. "Suspension of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) from 21 January 2023 until further notice" (PDF). FIFA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  11. প্রতিবেদক, ক্রীড়া (30 January 2023). "সাফের স্বাগতিক হতে শুধু নেপালের আবেদন". Prothomalo.
  12. "SAFF confirms Sports Partner International as the official commercial partner". SAFF. 14 February 2023. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  13. "India to host SAFF Championship in June 2023". KhelNow. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  14. "Bengaluru to host 2023 SAFF Championship". Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  15. "Suspension of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) from 21 January 2023 until further notice" (PDF). FIFA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  16. "KUWAIT CONFIRMS ITS PARTICIPATION IN SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP". SAFF. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  17. "LEBANON TO COMPETE IN SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP". SAFF. Archived from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  18. Chatterjee, Triyasha (15 May 2023). "SAFF Championship 2023 Draw on May 17, Indian Football Team eye consecutive titles - Follow SAFF 2023 LIVE". www.insidesport.in. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  19. "Invitation to Tender SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP" (PDF). SAFF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.