The whole thing seemed dodgy from the start, especially when the FAs openly admitted to having received cash for signing up. Wonder what happened, the officials are being rather tight-lipped about it.
Maldives have lost their two AFC Cup slots for 2019. Football Association of Maldives (FAM) announced that none of the clubs managed to upload all the required licensing documents to the AFC portal on time. FAM appealed to AFC for more time, but was rejected. With just 3 games remaining in the local league, four clubs are still in with a chance to end up in the AFC Cup positions, so it's a kick in the teeth for Maldivian football. What's surprising is that three of those clubs have appeared in the competition since 2016 when the online registration system was implemented, so it's not like this is something new for them. As of yet, none of the clubs have released any statements. One step forward, two steps backwards yet again by Maldives.
AFC have warned the Maldives government to not "interfere" with the Football Association of Maldives. I don't understand how AFC expects their associations to be held accountable for serious breaches of negligence. With the fiasco surrounding the failure to obtain licences for Maldivian clubs ahead of the 2019 AFC Cup, clubs and FAM have been engaging in a war of words, with a lot of finger-pointing and lobbing the blame at each other. FAM accused the clubs of not uploading the required documents on time, while club officials say some of the documents were not approved by FAM on time. Seeing no end in sight, the Ministry of Youth and Sports decided to bring together a panel to act as a mediator between the FAM and clubs, and to see what could be done to prevent a repeat of the scenario ahead of the 2020 AFC Cup. And AFC considers this "government interference". The FAM has always been one of the most corrupt bodies in the country, with the large influx of foreign currency on an annual basis attracting the worst sort of people to the place. I believe that AFC needs to look at their own rules and change what they constitute as interference, or the associations of developing countries like Maldives will forever remain as a breeding ground for the tax dodging elite to make easy money.
2019 Indian Ocean Island Games draw: Group A Madagascar Mauritius (hosts) Seychelles Group B Reunion Mayotte Comoros Maldives Tough group for Maldives which includes the last edition's finalists Reunion and Mayotte. Comoros are still in with a chance of qualifying for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, while Madagascar in group A have already achieved that feat with a game to spare. The games will be held in July, a month after the 2019/20 Dhivehi Premier League resumes, and FAM are considering sending the under-23 squad to the tournament. The South Asian Games, which will be held on September in Kathmandu, Nepal, require U-23 squads with three overage players so this tournament may be used as a preparation.
https://www.footballpakistan.com/20...22-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers-express-tribune/ Whenever I feel the need to tear out my hair over the FAM's incompetence, I just wander off to check out what the PFF are doing and it makes me feel slightly better. Pakistan's participation in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with the FIFA-backed Faisal Hayat and his rival faction led by Syed Ashfaq Hussain still going at each other's throats. It is believed that the matches will go ahead only if both factions reach an agreement. The PFF had recently pulled out of the SAFF Women's Championship, as well as the AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers over these disagreements. Pakistan's talismanic forward, Kaleem Ullah, who plays for Iraqi side Najaf and is suspended by PFF due to his comments about the organization's incompetence, stated his wish to see Pakistan play their two matches against Cambodia. I believe that Pakistan has a real chance against the Cambodians, especially if they manage to get a proper training camp under their belt. Their four Denmark-based players, as well as a fit legion of locals have enough quality to beat the South-East Asians over two legs. The problem is, the domestic league concluded last November and the players based in Pakistan haven't kicked a ball since. Other matches involving the SAFF sides in Round 1 are as follows: Macau vs Sri Lanka Laos vs Bangladesh Bhutan vs Guam The Macau and Sri Lanka tie is probably going to be very close. Sri Lanka find themselves at the bottom of the AFC rankings, mostly due to the fact that they hardly played any matches in the last four years. Progressing to round 2 would guarantee them at least 8 competitive matches, which is vital to continue the good work that their football federation are currently doing with the development of coaches and grassroots. Bangladesh are more than capable of beating Laos, as they won away against a stronger Cambodia recently. I think Guam are probably going to be too strong for Bhutan. Guam does not score many goals but are pretty solid at the back, while Bhutan's defense is extremely leaky. I think both sides can give a good go at home by utilizing the climates as an advantage, but Guam's better defensive organisation will likely hand them a passage to the next round.
FAM have scheduled a 4-team, U-15 tournament sponsored by UEFA to be hosted in Maldives. The tournament will kick off on 20th July. The participating nations are Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan and Latvia. FAM are in discussion with relevant authorities to hold the matches in Addu City, which hosted some group stage matches of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. The tournament will act as a warm up ahead of the AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers, as well as the SAFF U-16 Championship matches to be held later this year.
It's been an eventful few days for the federation. Seven I-League clubs have threatened to drag AIFF to court, with reports circulating that AIFF are about to make the Indian Super League (ISL) as the top league in the country in their ExCo meeting on July 3rd. If this decision is made, the I-League will be assigned the second division status, meaning historic teams such as East Bengal and Mohun Bagan will be relegated for the first time. Dhaka Abahani Limited became the first Bangladeshi side to make it through to the knockout stages of the AFC Cup. They produced a last-gasp winner against Minerva Punjab to book their place in the Inter-Zone final, where they are set to face Turkmenistan champions Altyn Asyr. This is also the first time where an Indian club failed to make it past the group stages after seven years, when India were taken out of the West Asian section. FIFA have awarded a 3-0 win to Sri Lanka in the second leg of their Round 1 FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Macau, after the latter forfeited the match in Colombo. This means that five SAFF sides will compete in the second round. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal are in Pot 5 of the draw, Maldives in Pot 4 and India are the highest ranked side in Pot 3.
Indian Ocean Island Games 2019 group stage fixtures for Maldives: 18/7: vs Reunion 20/7: vs Comoros 22/7: vs Mayotte The senior national team is going to represent Maldives in the games, with FAM deciding to use the opportunity to get at least three matches against decent Pot 3 level opposition ahead of the World Cup qualifiers. Maldives has a horrendous record in this competition, finishing bottom of the group in their previous three attempts. They will be hoping to progress to the knockouts this time.
There was more disappointment for Nepali football fans as it was announced that no club from Nepal managed to get the AFC Club Competition License for 2020. After a first ever group stage appearance in the AFC Cup this year, it was a classic case of One Step Forward, Two Steps Back for Nepali football in a year of turmoil. This means that no clubs from Nepal or Pakistan will be part of the 2020 AFC Cup draw. They were also unable to upgrade the facilities at their national stadium, the Dashrath Rangasala Stadium in time for their FIFA World Cup qualifier against Kuwait, and had to host the match in Bhutan instead. In other news, the 13th South Asian Games are (maybe!) scheduled to take place from 1st to 10th December, with the group stages for the men's football event drawn as follows: Group A Nepal (hosts) Bangladesh Bhutan Group B India Maldives Sri Lanka As usual, the Olympic squads (U-23 players + a maximum of 3 overage players) are eligible to be registered for the squads).
India failed to register their men's squad for the Games, and the format of the tournament has been changed. India have not won gold since 1995, and never since it was switched to the U-23 format. The remaining 5 teams will be placed in one group, play each other once and the top 2 will compete for gold in a one-off final. It is rumored that the Indian Super League organizers refused to release their U-23 players.
The general brainless nature of South Asian organizers has been put to the fore once again when they revealed the schedule for the men's football event in the 13th South Asian Games. Teams have to play matches on consecutive days! Would have been better if they had simply replaced India with Pakistan in Group B, whose men's football team have actually been undergoing a late training camp to prepare for this competition.
Pakistan are attempting an 11th hour entry to be part of the men's football event in the 13th South Asian Games. https://www.footballpakistan.com/20...ge-football-teams-departure-for-sag-the-news/ The Pakistan team are undergoing a training camp in Islamabad, with their senior national team captain Saddam Hussain set to lead the side as one of their 3 overage players.
Pakistan were not given the opportunity to participate. The organizers initially ignored queries by the Pakistan Football Federation, then invited them for an "emergency" last-minute meeting to inform them that there was no time to let them in. When India withdrew, it looks like the Nepal Olympic Committee and ANFA took the opportunity to arrange the schedule in a way that is most beneficial for the hosts.
2019 South Asian Games: Day 5 Nepal 2-1 Maldives Bhutan 3-0 Sri Lanka Bhutan through to the final, and guaranteed a medal in this competition for the first time! Nepal are pretty much through, barring a big defeat against Bangladesh in the last match of the group stage.
2019 South Asian Games: Day 6 Nepal 1-0 Bangladesh The hosts and reigning champions to face Bhutan in the final. Bangladesh take bronze.
2019 South Asian Games final Nepal 2-1 Bhutan Hosts Nepal have won this event for the second time in a row. Since the men's football event was switched to the U-23 (+3 overage players) format in 2004, the winners are as follows: 2004: Pakistan 2006: Pakistan 2010: Bangladesh 2016: Nepal 2019: Nepal It's interesting that the so-called chasing pack, i.e the nations that have been stuck in a rut behind India and Maldives, have been so dominant at this level. Perhaps their federations should ask themselves why this is not being replicated at the top level.