2015 SAFF Championship

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]

2015 SAFF Championship
2015 SAFF Suzuki Cup
2015 SAFF Championship official logo
Tournament details
Host countryIndia
Dates23 December 2015 – 3 January 2016
Teams7 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions India (7th title)
Runners-up Afghanistan
Tournament statistics
Matches played12
Goals scored44 (3.67 per match)
Top scorer(s) Khaibar Amani (4 goals)
Best player(s) Sunil Chhetri

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]

Participating nations The participating nations (Pakistan did not participate).
Country Appearance Previous best performance FIFA ranking
Dec 2015
 India (Host)11thChampions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011)166
 Afghanistan8thChampions (2013)150
 Bangladesh10thChampions (2003)182
 Bhutan7thSemi-finals (2008)188
 Maldives9thChampions (2008)160
   Nepal11thThird-place (1993)192
 Sri Lanka11thChampions (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: 55,000

Squads
Main article: 2015 SAFF Championship 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 winners
  • Group runners-up

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
4  Pakistan 3 0 0 3 0 3 −3 0
Source: soccerway.com
(H) Host.
Nepal   0–1 Sri Lanka
Report Rifnas  90+5'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 200
Referee: Jameel Juma Abdulhusain (Bahrain)
Sri Lanka 0–2 India
Report Singh  51', 73'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 6,417
Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)
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
Source: soccerway.com
Maldives 3–1 Bhutan
Imaz  9'
Abdulla  31'
Ashfaq  70'		 Report Dorji  20'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Sudish Pandey (Nepal)
Afghanistan 4–0 Bangladesh
Saighani  30'
Shayesteh  32'
Amiri  40'
Amani  69'		 Report
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 150
Bangladesh 1–3 Maldives
Biswas  86' Report Ashfaq  42' (pen.)
Hassan  90'
Nashid  90+5'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 3,654
Bhutan 0–3 Afghanistan
Report Amani  14', 51'
Saighani  42'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 1,817
Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)
Bhutan 0–3 Bangladesh
Report Barman  8'
Rony  24' (pen.), 67'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 218
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-finalsFinal
 
      
 
31 Dec – Thiruvananthapuram
 
 
 India3
 
3 Jan – Thiruvananthapuram
 
 Maldives2
 
 India (a.e.t.)2
 
31 Dec – Thiruvananthapuram
 
 Afghanistan1
 
 Afghanistan5
 
 
 Sri Lanka0
 

Semi-finals
India 3–2 Maldives
Chhetri  25'
Lalpekhlua  34', 66'		 Report Nashid  45+2'
Amdhan Ali  75'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 31,716
Afghanistan 5–0 Sri Lanka
Hashemi  45+1'
Taher  50'
Amani  56' (pen.)
Hatifi  78'
Shayesteh  89'		 Report
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 300
Referee: Sudhish Pandey (Nepal)

Final
Main article: 2015 SAFF Championship Final
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

Goalscorers
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

Controversies

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. "Suzuki Motor Corporation to sponsor SAFF Football Championship 2015". Times of India. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  2. Chaudhuri, Arunava (2 July 2015). "Trivandrum will host upcoming SAFF Cup in December 2015/January 2016". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  3. "Afghanistan FA Secretary General Sayed Alireza Aghazada: This is our last Participation in SAFF Championship". GoalNepal. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  4. "Pakistan Withdraw From SAFF Cup Football in Kerala". NDTV Sports. 23 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  5. "India to host 2015 SAFF Cup". Times of India. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  6. "Pak withdraw from SAFF". NDTV Sports. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  7. "TV Channels Broadcasting SAFF Championship 2015 Live Coverage". SportsCola. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  8. "Video of the award presentation". YouTube. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
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