2015 SAFF Championship
| 2015 SAFF Suzuki Cup | |
|---|---|
 2015 SAFF Championship official logo | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | India |
| Dates | 23 December 2015 – 3 January 2016 |
| Teams | 7 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  India (7th title) |
| Runners-up |  Afghanistan |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Goals scored | 44 (3.67 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Khaibar Amani (4 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Sunil Chhetri |
The 2015 SAFF Championship (officially known as the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2015[1] for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's football championship of South Asia organized by SAFF. It is being held in India from 23 December 2015 to 3 January 2016.[2]
Heading into the tournament, Afghanistan were the defending champions of the tournament, with it also being the last time they can officially take part, as they have become members of the newly formed Central Asian Football Association.[3]
Originally scheduled to take place in July 2015, monsoon season and schedule congestion led to the tournament being postponed to late December.[2] The tournament saw no participation from Pakistan, who withdrew from the tournament in November 2015 due a dispute within the nation's football federation.[4]
India was chosen as the host nation on 10 September 2013 with the host venue to be decided between Delhi and Kerala.[5] In July 2015, it was announced that matches during the tournament would be held at the Trivandrum International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.[2] This is the third time in which India has hosted the tournament, when it was known as the Gold Cup in 1999 and under the current name in 2011.
Contents
1 Participating nations
2 Venue
3 Squads
4 Broadcasting
5 Group stage
5.1 Group A
5.2 Group B
6 Knockout phase
6.1 Bracket
6.2 Semi-finals
6.3 Final
7 Awards
8 Goalscorers
9 Controversies
10 Sponsorship
11 References
12 External links
Participating nations
Apart from hosts India, six other South Asian nations participated in the tournament, with Pakistan being the only nation not participating. There was no reason cited by the PFF but issues with the federation's elections have forced the courts to prohibit any activities.[6]
Participating nations The participating nations (Pakistan not participating).
| Country | Appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA ranking Dec 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| India (Host) | 11th | Champions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011) | 166 |
| Afghanistan | 8th | Champions (2013) | 150 |
 Bangladesh | 10th | Champions (2003) | 182 |
 Bhutan | 7th | Semi-finals (2008) | 188 |
 Maldives | 9th | Champions (2008) | 160 |
 Nepal | 11th | Third-place (1993) | 192 |
 Sri Lanka | 11th | Champions (1995) | 194 |
Venue
On 2 July 2015, it was announced that the matches during the tournament would take place at the newly constructed Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.[2]
Thiruvananthapuram |   Thiruvananthapuram |
|---|---|
Trivandrum International Stadium | |
| Capacity: 55,000 | |
 |
Squads
Broadcasting
The tournament was broadcast live in India on STAR Sports 4 , Kantipur Television Network in Nepal, Lemar TV and Tolo TV in Afghanistan. Gazi TV in Bangladesh, Bhutan Broadcasting Service in Bhutan and Television Maldives in Maldives. Every match was broadcast live on YouTube.[7]
Group stage
All times are local, IST (UTC+5:30).
| Key to colors in group tables | |
|---|---|
Teams that advance to the semi-finals
| |
Group A
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India (H) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 6 | Qualified for semi-finals |
| 2 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Nepal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 |
(H) Host.
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| Nepal | 0–1 | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Rifnas  90+5' |
| Sri Lanka | 0–2 | India |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Singh 51', 73' |
| India | 4–1 | Nepal |
|---|---|---|
Borges 26'Chhetri 68'Chhangte 81', 90' | Report | Magar 3' |
Group B
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Afghanistan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 9 | Qualified for semi-finals |
| 2 | Maldives | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Bangladesh | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 3 | |
| 4 | Bhutan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 0 |
| Maldives | 3–1 | Bhutan |
|---|---|---|
Imaz 9'Abdulla 31'Ashfaq 70' | Report | Dorji 20' |
| Afghanistan | 4–0 | Bangladesh |
|---|---|---|
Saighani 30'Shayesteh 32'Amiri 40'Amani 69' | Report |
| Bangladesh | 1–3 | Maldives |
|---|---|---|
Biswas 86' | Report | Ashfaq 42' (pen.)Hassan 90'Nashid 90+5' |
| Bhutan | 0–3 | Afghanistan |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Amani 14', 51'Saighani 42' |
| Bhutan | 0–3 | Bangladesh |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Barman 8'Rony 24' (pen.), 67' |
| Afghanistan | 4–1 | Maldives |
|---|---|---|
Shayesteh 20'Popalzay 34', 54'Hatifi 51' | Report | Fasir 32' |
Knockout phase
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 31 Dec – Thiruvananthapuram | ||||||
| India | 3 | |||||
| 3 Jan – Thiruvananthapuram | ||||||
| Maldives | 2 | |||||
| India (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||
| 31 Dec – Thiruvananthapuram | ||||||
| Afghanistan | 1 | |||||
| Afghanistan | 5 | |||||
| Sri Lanka | 0 | |||||
Semi-finals
| India | 3–2 | Maldives |
|---|---|---|
Chhetri 25'Lalpekhlua 34', 66' | Report | Nashid 45+2'Amdhan Ali 75' |
| Afghanistan | 5–0 | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
Hashemi 45+1'Taher 50'Amani 56' (pen.)Hatifi 78'Shayesteh 89' | Report |
Final
| India | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | Afghanistan |
|---|---|---|
Lalpekhlua 72'Chhetri 101' | Report | Amiri 70' |
Awards
The following awards were given for the 2015 SAFF Championship.[8]
Fair Play Award | MVP of the Tournament | Golden Boot Award | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maldives | Sunil Chhetri | Khaibar Amani |
Goalscorers
- 4 goals
Khaibar Amani
- 3 goals
Faysal Shayesteh
Jeje Lalpekhlua
Sunil Chhetri
- 2 goals
|
|
|
- 1 goal
|
|
|
Controversies
A couple of days before the tournament, it was revealed by the head coaches of the participating nations that they were upset with the lack of proper training facilities and overall lack of organization of the tournament.[9] Committee Working President, V Sivankutty, said that the blame for the lack of organization was the responsibility of the tournament organizers.[9]
During the first match of the tournament, both Sri Lanka and Nepal were wearing the same dark red jersey in the first half before Nepal changed into their blue second-kit for the second half.
Sponsorship
On 14 September 2015 it was announced that Suzuki would be the title sponsor of the SAFF Championship for 2015.[1]
References
^ ab "Suzuki Motor Corporation to sponsor SAFF Football Championship 2015". Times of India. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ abcd Chaudhuri, Arunava (2 July 2015). "Trivandrum will host upcoming SAFF Cup in December 2015/January 2016". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
^ "Afghanistan FA Secretary General Sayed Alireza Aghazada: This is our last Participation in SAFF Championship". GoalNepal. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
^ "Pakistan Withdraw From SAFF Cup Football in Kerala". NDTV Sports. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
^ "India to host 2015 SAFF Cup". Times of India. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
^ "Pak withdraw from SAFF". NDTV Sports. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
^ "TV Channels Broadcasting SAFF Championship 2015 Live Coverage". SportsCola. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
^ "Video of the award presentation". YouTube. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
^ ab "SAFF Cup hasn't even kicked off, but teams are already complaining about facilities and logistics". FirstPost. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
External links
- Official Site
