'SAFF Championship This Year Has Higher Competitive Value': AIFF General Secretary Dr Shaji Prabhakaran

All India Football Federation (AIFF) Secretary General Dr Shaji Prabhakaran lauded the SAFF Championship for its high competitive value and said that the reason for it that there were two teams outside South Asian Football Federation region - Lebanon and Kuwait, reported the governing body of the sport on Sunday. The SAFF Championship has been a happy hunting ground for India, with the Blue Tigers winning eight of the 13 editions held so far. However, the ongoing 2023 edition of the championship is a rather special one, with the presence of quality teams like Lebanon and Kuwait, who have been brought in as special invitees.

India, who are on a preparation path for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, which is set to take place in Qatar next year, have got some valuable experience of playing matches against Kuwait and Lebanon, along with games against South Asian Teams like Pakistan and Nepal.

AIFF Secretary General Dr Shaji Prabhakaran said as quoted by an AIFF press release, "This SAFF Championship proved to be of higher competitive value because we have had two teams that were from outside the SAFF region. The quality of the matches have been a leg up from the previous editions, be it for India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, or Maldives."

He further went on to state that the high quality of the two teams from West Asia, along with much-anticipated rivalries like India vs Pakistan meant that the 2023 edition of the SAFF Championship has had its fair amount of fanfare.

"The fans have been absolutely fabulous. The atmosphere in Bengaluru has been electric, and we experienced the SAFF Championship in India after quite a few years too. The India vs Pakistan match arguably had a cricket-like atmosphere. The responses on