SAFF Thread

Discussion in 'Asian Football Confederation' started by druryfire, Jul 10, 2009.

  1. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    I agree with you that lots of money is being thrown around and a lot of people are being involved in Indian football. But I feel that these people can do a lot better.

    For one thing, the ISL is simply a disgrace. It is one of the worst examples of capitalist exploitation, with celebrities, politicians and businesses all playing their hands with their own interests in mind. Sure, they may wax lyrical about "youth development" to appease the genuine football fans every once in a while, but really...

    And India should push for more matches against ASEAN and CAFF nations, but what's stopping them? They can't blame SAFF for this. The SAFF Championship is organised by WSG group, where over 90% are represented by businesses and media conglomerates based in India. As a result, India has an inordinate amount of power within SAFF, and have forced one in every two SAFF Championship tournaments to be hosted in India and almost completely alienated Pakistan. I think AIFF needs to get their head straight and realize that these businesses do not have the best interest of Indian (or indeed, SAFF) football in mind. India would do better by encouraging small, community-based clubs like Eibar (Spain) and Crewe Alexendra (England) to encourage development of young talent and fanbases within a sustainable model.

    Trust me, one of the major reasons football here in Maldives stalled in the last 10 years is due to politicians, most of whom are rich business owners, decided to take charge of our most traditional football teams. They splashed a lot of cash for a couple of years, got bored and left the clubs in severe debt. As a result, as recently as 2012, there were clubs in the top tier who were not able to pay their players and coaching staff and this discouraged younger people from taking up football as a profession.
     
  2. BrainFallIndia

    Jun 4, 2016
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    First and foremost , nobody is blaming SAFF, my point was that if we keep on playing SAFF we are not going to improve . We crumbled when we were pitted against stronger opponents as in the WCQs.I already explained the reason why we were not going for tougher competitions.
    I don't blame the ISL completely ,the i-league were in shambles before the ISL. Blame goes to both the AIFF and the clubs .I dont even want to get started on some clubs who were in existence for a long time yet have minimal or negligible infrastructure or facilities for the first team or academies.
    ISL brought attention to the football scene , it's a big hit among the youth and children. You know ,if u mix anything in India with celebrities it will turn out to be big,such is the impact of Bollywood here.
    I believe it had served the purpose of getting people to stadiums and improving the investments in football, now its time to build from there. About youth football , except for FC Pune City i don't think anyone's serious but it has been the same with I-league clubs except the Northeast ones .
    A much hyped roadmap was made some time ago , lets see how it goes.
     
  3. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    I suppose with the new World Cup/Asian Cup qualifying format, we will hopefully see an improvement in the quality of India and other SAFF teams. After all, people would be interested in throwing money around only for so long and the FA's will be forced to get their act together.

    There was a lot of money invested by FIFA in Maldivian football during the start of the millennium, but then they realized that the individuals in charge of FAM were not interested in football development whatsoever. Every coaching seminar or exhibition was attended by either the FAM President or one or two select individuals with connections to the ruling government. Football remained a Male' thing, with the other islands being completely ignored. Worst of all, they stopped all junior and inter-school tournaments due to "budgetary restrictions". The turf grounds constructed with FIFA aid fell into disrepair.

    A Korean technical director, who had created a framework after studiously examining the practices of football in Maldives, resigned in exasperation after realizing that no one at FAM had any intention of actually following it. His work between 2000-2007 resulted in the dramatic rise of Maldives as a footballing nation, but ever since he left, the position was filled with locals who weren't bothered with the responsibilities that came with it. Leading FAM was a lucrative position with all the foreign currency that goes in there. And there was very little chance of facing consequences whichever way they decided to spend it.

    As a result, from 2007 until last year, the FIFA and AFC investments completely dried up. It was only towards the end of 2016, with the newly-elected FAM president, when the confederations and football associations from Qatar and Japan saw the potential of investment in Maldives again. I can only imagine how far we would have come if the appropriate steps were taken ten years ago. I guess India also needs to be aware of this, especially in this day and age when instant results are expected.
     
  4. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    Group A
    Dhaka Abahani 0-0 Pocheon FC
    TC Sports Club 2-1 Alga Bishkek

    TC confirmed spot in the semis.

    Group B
    Shaheen Asmayee 3-1 Manang Marshyangdi
    Chittagong Abahani 0-0 Dhaka Mohammedan

    All to play of in this group, with everyone still in with a chance.
     
  5. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    Group A
    Pocheon FC 1-1 TC Sports Club
    Dhaka Abahani 2-1 Alga Bishkek

    Group B
    Chittagong Abahani 2-2 Manang Marshyangdi
    Dhaka Mohammedan 2-0 Shaheen Asmayee

    Semi-finals:

    27th February
    TC Sports Club vs Manang Marshyangdi

    28th February
    Chittagong Abahani vs Pocheon FC
     
  6. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    [​IMG]

    New Radiant SC of Maldives and Reading FC have signed an MOU.

    Officials from both clubs met and toured the National Stadium, training turf pitches and New Radiant's youth academy.

    According to the MOU, Reading FC will assist New Radiant in improving their academy, which was opened in 2014. The clubs will also engage in player exchange programs at academy level to provide youngsters the experience of playing in different environments, and Reading will also allow opportunities for New Radiant players to participate in trials.

    Reading will play a friendly match against New Radiant in Maldives as part of their pre-season before the 2017/18 season.
     
    ashindia repped this.
  7. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    TC Sports Club 1-0 Manang Marshyangdi
    Chittagong Abahani 1-2 Pocheon FC

    Final :
    TC Sports Club vs Pocheon FC
     
  8. sshah

    sshah Member

    Jun 11, 2014
    Canada
    Club:
    Toronto FC
    I hope that there will be some introspection if a lower tier south Korean teams wins the tournament.
     
  9. edrees

    edrees Member

    Nov 28, 2005
    4th division team :eek:
     
  10. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    I watched most of the matches and they look far superior to the rest of the teams in terms of technical ability. Their players don't have the physical prowess, nor do they make lung bursting runs to the byline to whip in crosses, but they pass their way into the opposition box like knife through butter.

    More than a bit embarrassing for everyone else, especially the tournament organizers Chittagong Abahani.
     
    sshah repped this.
  11. edrees

    edrees Member

    Nov 28, 2005
    That should show the saff nations how behind they are in terms of football development and should go back to the drawing board in regards to their youth structure and development
     
  12. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    TC Sports Club 2-2 Pocheon FC
    (TC Sports Club win 4-2 on penalties)

    Interesting fact: The young lad who scored the winning penalty for TC was Arash Assad, son of Assad Abdul Ghani, who captained Maldives to their one and only SAFF Championship glory in 2008.

    TC Sports Club had a whopping 12 teenagers in their squad, which just highlights the great work they have done to attract young talent to the club. This victory culminates the great work done by the club since their inception only a few years ago, starting out as a neighborhood club, to getting promoted to the top tier and also their usage of innovative fitness and training methods.
     
    sshah repped this.
  13. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    http://www.boalha.mv/2017/05/17/india-request-to-delay-saff-championship

    India have handed in a request to delay the SAFF Championship, their reason being that the players would not have enough time to properly prepare for the tournament with the ISL getting delayed due to the U-17 World Cup.

    So India requests to postpone the so very unimportant tournament because their players would not be getting enough time to rest beforehand. Welcome to the world of the rest of the SAFF nations!

    I for one hope SAFF rejects this proposal, but I highly doubt they have the balls to do that. Show AIFF that they can't have it their way all the time.
     
  14. druryfire

    druryfire Member

    Sep 10, 2007
    England
    Un-organised as usual....it's like the U-17 World Cup has only just been noticed.

    When were they awarded hosting rights for the world cup again? Oh December 2013. SAFF Championship was awarded to Bangladesh for December hosting.

    ISL features all these foreign stars and therefore gets some international viewers taking an interest, for SAFF Championship to run fairly close to the tournament isn't a bad thing for me....alternative is May 2018, oh, whats happening then? Oh, AFC Cup knockout stages.
     
  15. druryfire

    druryfire Member

    Sep 10, 2007
    England
    Bangladesh have just appointed a new coach, I doubt they/he will be wanting to wait a year for SAFF Championship. He will no doubt have a short term contract that finishes when SAFF Championship finishes...that won't be 1 year.
     
  16. edrees

    edrees Member

    Nov 28, 2005
    SAFF and CAFF should just merge together.

    both confederations dont want to do much regional activities so just merge both :)
     
    Afghan-Juventus repped this.
  17. jonny63

    jonny63 Member+

    Feb 17, 2005
    Norway
  18. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    If SAFF has any semblance of professionalism in them, they should organize the championship somewhere between December and early February. This is of course, the off-season for internationals and surely, the federation would be keen to see their clubs doing well in the AFC Cup.

    FAM have already declared that the Maldivian football season would kick-off on late January starting from 2018 so that clubs playing in the AFC Cup would be better equipped to handle the tournament. So I'm hoping that the SAFF Championship would still take place on December.
     
  19. jonny63

    jonny63 Member+

    Feb 17, 2005
    Norway
  20. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    So this went under the radar, but the SAFF Championship draw took place over a week ago.

    Group A
    Bangladesh (hosts)
    Nepal
    Bhutan
    Pakistan

    Group B
    India
    Maldives
    Sri Lanka

    Group A looks the more interesting of the two, and I'm a bit surprised that Pakistan are actually playing in this one. There had been talk of them getting suspended. I hope they put on a good performance this time as well, as I thought they were desperately unlucky in their last tournament in 2013 when they went out on goal difference.

    Once again India have been placed in the 3-team group (unexpectedly and against all the odds, no doubt). Both they and Maldives would play Sri Lanka before facing each other, which would most likely make it a dead rubber match for both sides. Oh well, at least we won't get knocked out by India in the semis this year.

    Still, I would have liked to see some other nation getting invited. It's unfair that some teams are required to play more matches to get to the semis. If SAFF are so worried about someone else stealing the glory, they could have at least extended an invitation to team like Laos, who would be happy to get some gametime and poses little risk to claiming the trophy.

    The tournament would take place from 4th - 15th September, delayed by almost a year as SAFF once again caved in to AIFF's high-pitched wailing.
     
  21. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    India and Maldives decided to opt out of sending teams to the 2018 Asian Games at the last minute, creating some discontent as a result. Only Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh put their names in the draw.

    The Indian Olympic Committee apparently decided that it was not worth it as there was little chance of them getting a medal in football and has thus created a rift with the AIFF.

    FAM, on the other hand, decided that they could not spare any more time from the 2018 football schedule. On one hand, I can understand where they're coming from; most of the national team is composed of players who are eligible to play in the U-23 team, and Petar Segrt played with this team, handing out a number of debuts, in his first competitive game against Bhutan. The SAFF Championship is scheduled for September and FAM does not want to burn out the players (like it happened during the last edition).

    On the other hand, FAM mentioned, during Segrt's unveiling last year, that the Asian Games (and other continental tournaments/qualifiers) would be prioritized for all age groups, and that they would be scaling down the priority of the SAFF Championship from then on. The idea being that, younger players would be given more match experience, which would increase the general quality of players available to be picked for the national team later on.

    What's frustrating is that they mentioned that the Asian Games would be a key competition they were focused on, but then have gone to do the exact opposite. Many players who have played in previous editions of the Asian Games have used it as a stepping stone for the senior national team, particularly those who do not get too many minutes playing for their clubs. With SAFF nations, it seems like we're stuck in an infinite loop.
     
  22. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    Maldives win the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018

    Against all the odds, Maldives have clinched the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018 after defeating India 2-1 in Dhaka.

    After an inauspicious start to their campaign where they drew against Sri Lanka, and lost 2-0 against favorites India in the group stages, Maldives required the luck of a coin toss to advance to the semis at the expense of Sri Lanka.

    Nepal, who had defeated hosts Bangladesh 2-0 in a must-win encounter, found themselves as the favorites against Maldives for the first time in the competition. Yet they ended up on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline which ended their dreams of a first ever final in this competition.

    Which meant that Maldives had to face overwhelming favorites and bogey side India in the final again. With the odds stacked heavily against them, the Maldivian players put on a dogged, professional display rarely seen by the Maldivian teams of past and ran out 2-1 winners, clinching the trophy for their second time. Any other Maldives side would have wilted at the mere thought of facing crosses and set-pieces against the taller Indian side, but not this one.

    This was the youngest squad Maldives had ever fielded with an average age of just 23.7, yet they showed maturity beyond their years in the last two matches when it counted the most. The pre-tournament talk was all about the omission of long-term captain and talisman Ali Ashfaq, as well as the retirement of some of his closest friends and players from the national team in protest. Coach Petar Segrt though, refused to budge to the demands of the media and supporters, in particular to the smear campaign run by the media and people from the football community, and stuck to his young players.

    In the end, the players stuck together and won it, despite being perhaps the most unfancied Maldivian side to ever play in this competition. Perhaps the absence of underachieving egos in the side made this possible.
     
    Afghan-Juventus repped this.
  23. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    With the victory, some remarkable stories have been filtering out of the Maldives camp.

    For one, the captain Akram Abdul Ghanee managed to emulate his brother, Assad's achievement in 2008 by lifting the trophy under his captaincy. Akram was part of the squad in 2008, but didn't make any appearances when Maldives lifted their first ever trophy.

    Also, Ibrahim Mahudhee, who opened the scoring in the final, was a player who only signed his first ever contract with a club at the beginning of last season. Up until then, he was a bellboy working at a resort, and was spotted back in 2015 when he scored a stunning individual goal at an amateur competition. The goal got captured on video and turned viral in Maldives. Several clubs tried to lure him on a trial, but he stubbornly refused, saying that he "Only want to play football for fun." And he remained that way until he got courted by TC Sports Club, a club known for signing up young, unknown talent. They convinced him to sign a professional contract and he scored 17 goals on his debut season and hasn't looked back since. The delicate chip over the Indian keeper in the final really summed him up.

    In a remarkable turnaround, goalkeeper Mohamed Faisal was honored with the Player of the Tournament award. There has been a shortage of goalkeeping talent in Maldives, with the legendary Imran Mohamed between the sticks from 2000 to the end of last year. When he retired, the country found that they didn't have a proper replacement. Faisal himself only played second fiddle to Imran at his club New Radiant SC, and didn't inspire too much confidence within the public, but the goalkeeping coach of Maldives, Aslam Abdul Raheem, who is no stranger to mockery himself (he was the poor soul between the sticks when Iran scored 17 past Maldives in 1997), worked with him and two other keepers, one of whom is an uncapped teenager, for the past month and it showed. His command of the area and ability to deal with crosses and high balls into the box has increased remarkably. He made a string of saves in the group stages and didn't give the opposition a sniff in semi- and final. He looked like the polar opposite of the player who was flapping at crosses just months ago.
     
  24. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    [​IMG]

    Maldivian striker Ahmed Rizuvan, who plays for Dhivehi Premier League side Club Eagles, equaled the world record of hat-tricks in 5 consecutive matches. In an incredible purple patch, he scored 16 goals without reply. He had the chance to break this incredible record this week, but in the end saw his team getting beaten 1-0.

    Club Eagles' Brazilian frontman Eduardo was released recently. Having no fit strikers left in the squad, they were forced to push Rizuvan, who plays as a winger, up top and it's fair to say that he has exceeded expectations. Rizuvan, 23, has been seen as one of the brightest talents of Maldivian football, and has scored in junior level qualifiers against the likes of Iraq. Mysteriously though, he keeps getting overlooked by the various coaches of the national team. He missed out on the last SAFF Suzuki Cup after being omitted from the final 23-man squad during the final selection.

    Here's hoping to see him feature against Malaysia on the 3rd of November.
     
  25. jonny63

    jonny63 Member+

    Feb 17, 2005
    Norway
    The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) comprising Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Sr Lanka and Pakistan unanimously decided to pull out of the South West Asian Football Federation (SWAFF) with immediate effect on Tuesday, 30 October 2018, in a meeting held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.



    The withdrawal precedes the expected official recognition of AFC’s five Regional Federations by the AFC Congress on Wednesday, 31 October 2018.

    https://www.the-aiff.com/news-center-details.htm?id=9298
     

Share This Page