India and Pakistan are set to renew their soccer rivalry after virtually 5 years as the two neighbouring nations have been clubbed within the an identical group inside the SAFF Cup to be held in Bengaluru from June 21 to July 4.
The draw of the 14th model of the South Asian Football Federation Cup was held proper right here on Wednesday with defending champions India, Pakistan, Kuwait and Nepal being clubbed in Group A. Lebanon, Maldives, Bangladesh and Bhutan are in Group B.
The group matches is perhaps carried out in a round-robin league format and the very best two teams in each group will qualify for the semifinals of the eight-nation regional match on the Kanteerava Stadium.
Lebanon and Kuwait — the two nations exterior of South Asia — had been invited to make the match further aggressive. Lebanon are the perfect ranked side inside the match at 99th whereas Pakistan are the underside at 195th. India are the second highest ranked side at 100 and first.
The Draw for the #SAFFChampionship2023 🏆 is accomplished, and that is how points stand 🙌
Watch the publish draw Media Interactions proper right here 👉 https://t.co/VsUbq9eR0p#IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/BwMkjfTkKT
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) May 17, 2023
The Indo-Pak Group A match is perhaps carried out on June 21 inside the second match of the opening day after Kuwait face Nepal inside the inaugural recreation.
India and Pakistan closing carried out in opposition to 1 one other in September 2018 inside the semifinal of the twelfth model of the SAFF Cup in Dhaka. India acquired that match 3-1 nevertheless misplaced to Maldives 1-2 inside the final.
Overall, India and Pakistan have formally carried out better than 20 worldwide matches. Of the two, India have been the dominant side with better than a dozen wins beneath their belt.
India have acquired the SAFF Cup eight cases whereas ending runners-up 4 cases. The solely time India did not attain the last word was inside the fifth model in 2003 in Dhaka when the nation accomplished third.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is hopeful that Pakistan avid gamers and assist staff will get visas to take part inside the match.
“Pakistan has confirmed its participation in the tournament, that is why they are here in the draw. All the countries of the South Asian region have the right to play in this tournament,” AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said after the draw.
“But things like grant of visas, providing security to the teams, these are not the job of any football federation of any country. The AIFF administration will coordinate with the concerned ministries of the government and we will get the answer with the passage of time.”
AIFF secretary regular Shaji Prabhakaran suggested PTI that the Pakistani contingent has already utilized for visas to journey to India and the processing of functions has begun.
“We don’t see any issue there. They (Pakistan contingent) have already applied for the visas and processing has begun,” said Prabhakaran, who was moreover present on the draw ceremony.
Pakistan did not attribute in two tournaments out of the 13 editions held to this point since 1993.
The Pakistan Football Federation could not ship its group inside the 2015 model held in India on account of inside factors. The nation missed the 2021 model in Maldives as a result of it was serving suspension from FIFA. The suspension was lifted in June closing yr.
Asked if the AIFF has acquired any assurance from the federal authorities for the protected conduct of the match, Chaubey said, “The slogan of FIFA (world governing physique) is FIFA unites the world by soccer. AIFF is a member affiliation of FIFA.
“We don’t take a look on the caste, creed and religion beneath the FIFA Charter. When a participant will get proper right down to the underside sporting his or her nationwide jersey, you don’t take a look on the caste and religion of that participant, the participant represents his or her nation.
“Moreover, we can’t host an international tournament without permission from the government.” SAFF regular secretary Anwar-ul Huq said that the collaborating nations have assured the organisers that they could ship their first nationwide teams.
“We can assure you that Lebanon, Kuwait and all other participating teams will send their full national teams,” he said.
“We could have brought other countries as suggested by the AIFF, but their national teams were engaged, and we did not want any age-group teams for this tournament.” India head coach Igor Stimac reiterated that the competitiveness of the match is perhaps better with the addition of the two teams from the Middle East.
“We need to behave and act as favourites to win the tournament. We welcome Kuwait and Lebanon as guests. Playing against them should help us in our preparations for the AFC Asian Cup,” said Stimac.
“A long duration camp was always something we were insisting on and we are going to use it to improve certain parts of our game, work more on the mental strength and passing confidence,” he said.
SAFF Cup fixtures:
June 21: Kuwait vs Nepal, 3.30 pm IST; India vs Pakistan, 7.30 pm IST.
June 22: Lebanon vs Bangladesh, 3.30 pm IST; Maldives vs Bhutan, 7.30 pm IST.
June 24: Pakistan vs Kuwait, 3.30 pm IST; Nepal vs India, 7.30 pm IST.
June 25: Bangladesh vs Maldives, 3.30 pm IST; Bhutan vs Lebanon, 7.30 pm IST.
June 27: Nepal vs Pakistan, 3.30 pm IST; India vs Kuwait, 7.30 pm IST.
June 28: Lebanon vs Maldives, 3.30 pm IST; Bhutan vs Bangladesh, 7.30 pm IST.
July 1: Semi finals
July 4: Final.
