SAFF Cup Tourney begins in Bangladesh today

The 12th South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup Tournament will commence with a clash between Nepal and Pakistan at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh today.

All South Asian countries except for Afghanistan will participate in this event with the final scheduled for September 15.

The hosts Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan are in Group ‘A’ while Sri Lanka, India and Maldives are in Group ‘B’.

Sri Lanka last emerged SAFF Cup champions way back in 1995 when the tournament was staged at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Sri Lanka’s other significant performance came in the inaugural year of the tournament in Lahore in 1993 where they emerged runnersup to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, India have emerged champions on seven occasions in 1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2015.

In addition, Bangladesh (2003), Maldives (2008) and Afghanistan (2013) have also emerged SAFF Cup champions.

However, Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan are yet to win the tournament.

Overall, Sri Lanka have played a total of 35 matches in the history of this tournament and they have won 13 games, drawn five and have lost 17.

According to latest FIFA Rankings Sri Lanka are placed 200th out of 206 countries.

India are placed 96th and the other team rankings are Maldives (150), Nepal (161), Bhutan (183) Bangladesh (194) and Pakistan (201).

The SAFF Cup champions will receive a cash award of US $50,000.