SAFF Championship in Male and Colombo from June 3

Bernard PERERA

The South Asian Football Federation Championship for the year 2008 is scheduled to be held in Maldives and Sri Lanka in the early part of June. The opening ceremony which takes place in Male, Maldives on June 3 will also see the game between Maldives and Pakistan while on the same day India take on Nepal. These are group ‘A’ matches.

The second day June 04 in Colombo group ‘B’ matches commence at Sugathadasa stadium with Sri Lanka confronting Afghanistan. The other teams in this group are Bangladesh and Bhutan.

The final is scheduled to be played in Colombo along with the closing ceremony on June 14.

The schedule of matches

June 3: India - Nepal, Maldives - Pakistan in Male.

June 4: Bangladesh - Bhutan, Sri Lanka - Afghanistan in Colombo

June 5: India - Pakistan, Maldives - Nepal in Male

June 6: Bangladesh - Afghanistan, Sri Lanka - Bhutan in Colombo

June 7: Pakistan - Nepal, India - Maldives in Male

June 8: Afghanistan - Maldives, Sri Lanka - Bangladesh in Colombo

June 9-10: Rest day

June 11: Semifinals winner of group ‘A’ Vs Runner up of group ‘B’ in Male, winner of group ‘B’ Vs Runner up of group ‘A’ in Colombo

June 12-13: Rest days

June 14: Final and the closing ceremony in Colombo.