Pakan confirm travelling to India for SAFF Cup
The Pakan Football Federation (PFF) on Thursday has received No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from country’s Foreign Office for their participation in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup to be held in India.
The matches are scheduled to be held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru from June 21 to July 4.
Pakan men’s football team is in Group A along with the hosts India, Kuwait and Nepal. They will face their arch-rivals India on June 21.
Ranked 101st in the latest FIFA rankings, India are the defending SAFF champions, having won the tournament in 2021 after beating Nepal 3-0 in the final.
The Pakan team is currently in Mauritius, participating in the ongoing four-nation tournament. Pakan have lost both of their matches against hosts Mauritius and Kenya. They will lock horns against Djibouti in their last match on June 17.
Lebanon and Kuwait, despite not being SAFF nations, will be participating in the eight-team event after receiving special invitation.
Lebanon (99) will be the highest-ranked team in the competition followed India. Other rankings are as follows – Kuwait (143), Nepal (174), Pakan (195), Maldives (154), Bhutan (185) and Bangladesh (192).
Groups
Group A: India, Kuwait, Nepal, Pakan
Group B: Lebanon, Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh
Fixtures:
June 21, 2023
Kuwait vs Nepal, 15:30 .
India vs Pakan, 19:30 .
June 22, 2023
Lebanon vs Bangladesh, 15:30 .
Maldives vs Bhutan, 19:30 .
June 24, 2023
Pakan vs Kuwait, 15:30 .
Nepal vs India, 19:30 .
June 25, 2023
Bangladesh vs Maldives, 15:30 .
Bhutan vs Lebanon, 19:30 .
June 27, 2023
Nepal vs Pakan, 15:30 .
India vs Kuwait, 19:30 .
June 28, 2023
Lebanon vs Maldives, 15:30 .
Bhutan vs Bangladesh, 19:30 .
Semi-finals:
July 1, 2023
Champion Group A vs Runner-up Group B, TBC.
Champion Group B vs Runner-up Group A, TBC.
Final:
July 4, 2023
Winner semi-final 1 vs Winner semi-final 2, TBC.
