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 |
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.
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]
| 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 | |
|---|---|
| Trivandrum International Stadium | |
| Capacity: 50,000 | |
 |
Squads
Broadcasting
The tournament was broadcast live in India and Nepal on STAR Sports 4. Lemar TV and Tolo TV broadcast it in Afghanistan. Gazi TV broadcast it in Bangladesh and Bhutan TV and MBC broadcast the tournament in Bhutan and the Maldives respectively. 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 |
23 December 2015 18:30 |
| Nepal |
0–1 | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Rifnas  90+5' |
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram Attendance: 200 Referee: Jameel Juma Abdulhusain (Bahrain) |
25 December 2015 18:30 |
| Sri Lanka |
0–2 | India |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Singh 51', 73' |
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram Attendance: 6,417 Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan) |
27 December 2015 18:30 |
| India |
4–1 | Nepal |
|---|---|---|
| Borges 26' Chhetri 68'Chhangte 81', 90' |
Report | Magar 3' |
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram Attendance: 8,093 Referee: Jameel Juma Abdulhusain (Bahrain) |
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 |
26 December 2015 15:30 |
| Bangladesh |
1–3 | Maldives |
|---|---|---|
| Biswas 86' |
Report | Ashfaq 42' (pen.) Hassan 90'Nashid 90+5' |
26 December 2015 18:30 |
| Bhutan |
0–3 | Afghanistan |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Amani 14', 51' Saighani 42' |
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram Attendance: 1,817 Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka) |
28 December 2015 18:30 |
| Afghanistan |
4–1 | Maldives |
|---|---|---|
| Shayesteh 20' Popalzay 34', 54'Hatifi 51' |
Report | Fasir 32' |
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram Attendance: 1,751 Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka) |
Knockout phase
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 31 Dec – Thiruvananthapuram | ||||||
| India | 3 | |||||
| 3 Jan – Thiruvananthapuram | ||||||
| Maldives | 2 | |||||
| India | 2 | |||||
| 31 Dec – Thiruvananthapuram | ||||||
| Afghanistan | 1 | |||||
| Afghanistan | 5 | |||||
| Sri Lanka | 0 | |||||
Semi-finals
31 December 2015 15:30 |
| India |
3–2 | Maldives |
|---|---|---|
| Chhetri 25' Lalpekhlua 34', 66' |
Report | Nashid 45+2' Amdhan Ali 75' |
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram Attendance: 31,716 Referee: Võ Minh Trí (Vietnam) |
31 December 2015 18:30 |
| Afghanistan |
5–0 | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
| Hashemi 45+1' Taher 50'Amani 56' (pen.)Hatifi 78'Shayesteh 89' |
Report |
Final
3 January 2016 18:30 |
| India |
2–1 (a.e.t.) | Afghanistan |
|---|---|---|
| Lalpekhlua 72' Chhetri 101' |
Report | Amiri 70' |
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram Attendance: 40,500 Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan) |
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 |
Top scorers
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 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
- 1 2 "Suzuki Motor Corporation to sponsor SAFF Football Championship 2015". Times of India. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 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.
- 1 2 "SAFF Cup hasn't even kicked off, but teams are already complaining about facilities and logistics". FirstPost. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.