SAFF Championship

SAFF Championship
Founded 1993
Region SAFF
Number of teams
Current champions  India (7th title)
Most successful team(s)  India (7 titles)
Website www.saffsuzukicup.com
2017 SAFF Championship

The SAFF Championship, also called South Asian Football Federation Cup (previously South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup), is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by the South Asian Football Federation. Previous names have included the South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup in 1993 and South Asian Gold Cup 95 in 1995. Eight teams compete in the South Asian Football Federation Tournament.

History

The countries that compete in the tournaments are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is held every two years.[1] Afghanistan joined SAFF in 2005 and left in 2015.

The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship kicked off in Kathmandu in 1997, evolving out of its forerunner, the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Gold Cup. Since its inception, the biennial competition has developed into South Asia’s premier football tournament, promoting the regional development of the game. The SAFF Championship 2001 was first postponed from Oct/Nov 2001 to Jan/Feb 2002 due to the suspension of the Bangladeshi FA from FIFA; the tournament finally took place in 2003. The 2017 edition will be hosted by Bangladesh.[2]

Tournaments' summary

Year Host Final Third Place Match
Champion Score Runner-up 3rd Place Score 4th Place
1993
Details
Pakistan
Pakistan

India
[note 1]
Sri Lanka

Nepal
[note 1]
Pakistan
1995
Details
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka
1 – 0
India

Bangladesh
[note 1]
Nepal
1997
Details
Nepal
Nepal

India
5 – 1
Maldives

Pakistan
1 – 0
Sri Lanka
1999
Details
India
India

India
2 – 0
Bangladesh

Maldives
2 – 0
Nepal
2003
Details
Bangladesh
Bangladesh

Bangladesh
1 – 1
(5 – 3 pen.)

Maldives

India
2 – 1
Pakistan

Since the 2005 edition, there was no official third place match. Hence, there were no official third place and fourth place being awarded. Semi-finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

Year Host Final Losing semi-finalists [2]
Champion Score Runner-up
2005
Details
Pakistan
Pakistan

India
2 – 0
Bangladesh
 Maldives and  Pakistan
2008
Details
Maldives Sri Lanka
Maldives & Sri Lanka

Maldives
1 – 0
India
 Bhutan and  Sri Lanka
2009
Details
Bangladesh
Bangladesh

India
0 – 0
(3 – 1 pen.)

Maldives
 Bangladesh and  Sri Lanka
2011
Details
India
India

India
4 – 0
Afghanistan
 Maldives and    Nepal
2013
Details
Nepal
Nepal

Afghanistan
2 – 0
India
 Maldives and    Nepal
2015
Details
India
India

India
2 – 1 (a.e.t.)
Afghanistan
 Maldives and  Sri Lanka
2017
Details
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
1Final tournaments in league table format.
2No third place match has been played since 2005; losing semi-finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

Performance by team

Team Champions Runners-up Third-place Fourth-place Semi-finalists
 India 7 (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015) 3 (1995, 2008, 2013) 1 (2003)
 Maldives 1 (2008) 3 (1997, 2003, 2009) 1 (1999) 4 (2005, 2011, 2013, 2015)
 Bangladesh 1 (2003) 2 (1999, 2005) 2 (1995, 2009)
 Afghanistan 1 (2013) 2 (2011, 2015)
 Sri Lanka 1 (1995) 1 (1993) 1 (1997) 2 (2008, 2009, 2015)
 Pakistan 1 (1997) 2 (1993, 2003) 1 (2005)
   Nepal 2 (1995, 1999) 3 (1993, 2011, 2013)
 Bhutan 1 (2008)

Top goalscorers

Top goalscorers by edition

Year Player(s) Goals
1993
Unknown
NA
1995
Unknown
NA
1997 India I. M. Vijayan 6
1999 Nepal Naresh Joshi 3
India Baichung Bhutia
Bangladesh Mihazur Rehman
Maldives Mohamed Wildhan
2003 Pakistan Sarfraz Rasool 4
2005 Maldives Ibrahim Fazeel 3
Maldives Ali Ashfaq
Maldives Ahmed Thariq
2008 Afghanistan Harez Habib 4
2009 Bangladesh Enamul Haque 4
Maldives Ahmed Thariq
Sri Lanka E. B. Channa
2011 India Sunil Chhetri 7
2013 Maldives Ali Ashfaq 10
2015 Afghanistan Khaibar Amani 4

Overall top goalscorers

Players with 10 or more goals at SAFF Championships
Rank Nation Player Goals scored
1 Maldives Ali Ashfaq 20
2 India Sunil Chhetri 13
3 India Baichung Bhutia 12
4 India I. M. Vijayan 10
Maldives Ibrahim Fazeel
Maldives Ahmed Thariq

See also

References

External links

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