Pak to take part in SAF Championship
Bureau Report

LAHORE—Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)’s Secretary General Lt. Col. (R) Ahmad Yar Khan Lodhi will go into attendance sheet when Maldivian capital of Male will host the draw ceremony and SAFF Executive Committee Meeting of SAFF Championship 2008 on 28 February.
“Pakistan will go in pursuit of their third soccer gold at Colombo’s Sugathadasa Stadium which will host the final of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in June. Sugathadasa had always proved lucky hunting ground for Pakistan team in past as our soccer team clinched SAF Games soccer title in 1991 and 2006. Pakistan had never won the SAFF title and their only medal was a bronze in Kathmandu 1997’s edition,” said PFF’s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat who won the praise from AFC and SAFF following successful SAFF Championship at Karachi’s Peoples Sports Complex three years ago.
The 8-nation event will be conducted from last week of May to first week of June 2008. SAFF President Ganesh Thapa (Nepal) and General Secretary Sirajul Islam Bachchu.plus Secretary Generals of eight participating nations - Manzoor Hassain (Bangladesh), A.H.Abdul Ghafoor (Maldives), Lt. Col. (R) Ahmad Yar Khan Lodhi (Pakistan), Albert Colaco (India), Ugyen Wanchuk (Bhuthan), Mukthar Rustami (Afghanistan), Narendra Shrestha (Nepal) and Hafiz Marikar (Sri Lanka) - will attend the Draw Ceremony. Maldives is a country in South Asian region that has taken great strides in promoting the Football. But they are not capable of hosting all matches and Sri Lanka, as a support, decided to jointly conduct this 15-match tourney. The teams will be divided into two groups. Both the nations will host one semi-final. The group matches that involve Maldives will be played in National Stadium, Male’ and group matches involving Sri Lanka will be played in Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo.
It also been decided that toss of coin will decide the venue in case of Sri Lanka - Maldives semi final clash. A total of six editions held so far and India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are the only three nations that won the tournament. The SAFF Championship is held biannually to promote the development of football in South Asia.
Launched at Lahore’s Railway Stadium in 1993 as SAARC Gold Cup ; since 1997 onwards it is known as the SAFF Championship.