After five years India, Pakistan will face each other in SAFF Cup

New Delhi: India and Pakistan are set to renew their football rivalry after almost five years as the two neighbors have been drawn in the same group at the SAFF Cup to be held in Bengaluru from June 21 to July 4.

The draw for the 14th edition of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup took place here on Wednesday, with defending champions India, Pakistan, Kuwait and Nepal placed in Group A. Group B consists of Lebanon, Maldives, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
The group matches will be played in a round-robin league format and the top two teams in each group will qualify for the semi-finals of the eight-nation regional tournament to be played at the Kanteerava Stadium.

Lebanon and Kuwait—two countries outside South Asia—were invited to make the tournament more competitive. Lebanon is ranked 99th highest in the tournament while Pakistan is ranked 195th. India is second at 101st position.
India and Pakistan last played against each other in the semi-finals of the 12th edition of the SAFF Cup in Dhaka in September 2018. India won that match 3-1 but lost 1-2 to Maldives in the final.

In total, India and Pakistan have officially played more than 20 international matches. Of the two, India have been the dominant team with more than a dozen wins.

India have won the SAFF Cup eight times while finishing as runners-up four times. The only time India missed the final was when the country finished third in the fifth edition in Dhaka in 2003.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is hopeful that Pakistani players and support staff will get visas to participate in the tournament.

“Pakistan has confirmed their participation in the tournament, that’s why they are in the draw here. After the draw, AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said that all the countries of the South Asian region have the right to play in this tournament.
“But providing visas, providing security for teams, that is not the job of any country’s football federation. The AIFF management will liaise with the concerned ministries of the government and we will get the response with the passage of time.

AIFF Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran told that the Pakistani contingent has already applied for visas to travel to India and processing of the applications has started.
“We don’t see any problem there. They (Pakistani contingent) have already applied for visas and the processing has started,” said Prabhakaran, who was also present at the draw ceremony.
Pakistan have not participated in two of the 13 editions since 1993.

The Pakistan Football Federation could not send its team to the 2015 edition in India due to internal issues. The country missed out on the 2021 edition in the Maldives as it was serving a suspension from FIFA. The suspension was lifted in June last year.
Asked if the AIFF had received any assurance from the government for the safe conduct of the tournament, Chaubey said, “FIFA’s (world governing body) motto is ‘FIFA unites the world through football.’ Is. AIFF is a member association of FIFA.

“We don’t look at caste, creed and religion under the FIFA charter. When a player steps on the ground wearing his national jersey, you don’t look at the caste and religion of that player, the player represents his country.

Moreover, we cannot host any international tournament without permission from the government.
SAAF General Secretary Anwar-ul Huq said that the participating countries have assured the organizers that they will send their first national 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 busy, and we didn’t want an age group for this tournament.”