NEW DELHI: The first ever bi-annual South Asia Football Federation (SAFF) Clubs Championship will be held in India from September 1 to 15, the Member Associations (MAs) of SAFF decided here today, at a seminar organised jointly by SAFF, AIFF and India's biggest industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.. Also decided was that it will be held every second edition in this country, which SAFF’s sole marketing agency World Sports Group said is the biggest market for football in the eight-country formation under the aegis of the Asian Football Confederation. This means that the 2015 SAFF Clubs Championship will be held here, and in between, as in 2013, it will be held in any other member country excepting India and Bangladesh. Allocation of spots :- India :- 2 Teams Bangladesh :- 2 Teams Pakistan :- 1 Team Afghanistan :- 1 Team Sir Lanka :- 1 Team Nepal :- 1 Team Bhutan :- 1 Team. Maldives :- 1 Team Format to be decided later by Bangladesh Federation **Although it was annoucned it is to be held in India, I have heard that it's actually being played in Bangladesh!**
Not sure, i picked the article off footballpakistan.com recently, not sure when all this was decided or if its final.
Rumours are this competition will finally kick off this year in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka as hosts will get two slots, everyone else will get one. India mooted to host in 2015 (even though they've said before they have no interest in this tournament). http://southasiafootball.com/first-ever-south-asian-club-championship-to-be-played-in-sri-lanka/
I have a feeling this is going to be like the Home Nations trophy held in the UK: a glorified set of exhibition matches. There is no way India or Maldives will send their best clubs with AFC Cup commitments in mind.
Just seen this: Inaugural SAFF Club Championship to be held in December http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=2016/01/06/sports/ranjith-rodrigo-appointed-acting-president-saff
Now they say they will play next year!! http://www.maldivesoccer.com/s/Bangladesh-to-host-SAFF-Suzuki-Cup-6221
Now they say they will play next year!! http://www.maldivesoccer.com/s/Bangladesh-to-host-SAFF-Suzuki-Cup-6221
I would like to see this tournament spread out throughout the footballing calendar year like the AFC Cup, rather than one that takes place over the course of two weeks. Playing the group stage matches and knockouts in a round robin, home-away format would also help clubs. Unfortunately, SAFF's ideas would probably not extend to that level and we are going to probably see a pointless tournament.
With the state of the I.League in India, it's probably time those clubs tried to moved to a regional league with something like 12-14 sides. About 8 from India and the rest spread out throughout the region. Would make sense for teams like Salgaocar rather than trying to compete with ISL teams. Would need some hell of a sponsorship deal as I doubt clubs would be able to afford travel.
All it needs is a little bit of hype, which is often used as a tool with great success by celebrities and politicians in this region. Like you said though, finances may pose to be a bit of a problem at the moment, but it would be awesome if we could treat this as a secondary tournament (i.e. like the Europa League equivalent for SAFF clubs), where clubs use this as a stepping stone to get used to playing in the same format as continental tournaments like the AFC Cup. I just feel that a mini-tournament played at one host country would do nothing to improve the state of football in this region, and would only serve to disrupt the footballing calendar.
Agree. They will get this tournament up and running (I believe it will be hosted in Bangladesh?) and will last say a week, it will be rushed through. Will benefit no one. I'd like to see something different, out of the box. Minimum 10 teams, play each other once making 9 games - doesn't have to be centrally hosted or home and away format. Could be 9 rounds played in 9 cities for example. A city could host 5 games over a weekend. For example, 1st round of games could Bengaluru v New Radiant in Karachi at 6pm local time followed by KRL v Three Star Club at 8:45pm, next day another 2 or 3 games before they move onto the next host city 2/3 weeks later, again say in Male where New Radiant host Abahani and so on. I do feel they could fit something like this in. Instead, it will be something like a 8 team tournament played over 7-10 days with SAFF claiming a regional champion when all the fans will know this wouldn't be the real case. We'd have big teams not enter or turn up late for the competition, with the quality on offer starting poor and finishing even poorer when the poor players are all shattered from playing every two days......this is the reality!
To be played in 2018 now!! Every time there's an announcement it goes back a year! https://www.dawn.com/news/1288438