SAFF Championship

The SAFF Championship, also called the South Asian Football Federation Cup (previously South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup), is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by the SAFF. Previous names have included the South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup in 1993 and South Asian Gold Cup 95 in 1995. Eight teams compete in the South Asian Football Fedration Tournament.

The countries that compete in the tournaments are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is held every two years.Fact|date=June 2008 The 2008 edition of the SAFF Championship will see the 8 teams divided into two (2) groups of four (4) for single round-robin play in two host nations, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the semi-finals.The semi-final winners will play in the SAFF Championship 2008 Final in Colombo.

*There are no matches in this round for 3rd Place.

The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship kicked off in Kathmandu in 1997, evolving out of its forerunner, the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Gold Cup.

Since its inception, the biennial competition has developed into South Asia’s premier football tournament, promoting the regional development of the game and providing plenty of exciting action, and wonderful skills for fans to savour in one of the most populous areas of the world.

All eight SAFF members – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, IR Pakistan and Sri Lanka will take part in the fifth edition of this event come June 2008.

It will also be the first time that the event will be co-hosted in two teams, namely, Maldives & Sri Lanka.

Tournaments

¹Final tournaments in league table format.

²No third place playoff.

³Postponed from Oct/Nov 2001 to Jan/Feb 2002; then postponed due to suspension of Bangladesh FA from FIFA; tournament finally took place in 2003.

Total Wins

See also

*SAFF Championship 2008
*AFC
*South Asian Football Federation
*AFC Asian Cup
*East Asian Cup
*Gulf Cup of Nations
*ASEAN Football Championship
*West Asian Football Federation Championship

External links

* [http://www.rsssf.com/tabless/saffcup.html RSSSF Page on the South Asian Federation Cup]
* [http://www.rubaisport.com/football/1540/2008.php SAFF Cup 2008]