National team coach Suzain satisfied with SAFF Championship fixtures

Maldives national football team's coach Ali Suzain is satisfied with the country's fixtures for October's SAFF Championship matches.

While the 13th edition of the SAFF Championship is to commence on October 1 after multiple delays, Suzain at a press conference on Thursday said that if any team has an advantage as per the schedule, that it is Maldives. While the tournament is to end on October 16, each team will have at least a three-day break between matches as per the new schedule.

The tournament, originally supposed to take place in Dhaka in 2020, has been repeatedly delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The South Asian Football Federation explored multiple venues - including other cities in Bangladesh as well as a move to Nepal - before picking Maldives as the best possible candidate for hosting the matches earlier this month.

While the tournament was to end on October 13 as per the initial schedule, some teams will only have a two-day rest period. Hence, the schedule was revised to allow participating nations get FIFA rankings points. As per FIFA rules, there will have to be three days’ gap between each matchday to get FIFA ranking points. 

Despite the change, Maldives will face Nepal in the first match of the tournament on October 1, before facing Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India respectively on October 7, 10 and 13. The top two finishers will play the final on October 16.

Speaking at Thursday's press conference, coach Suzain said that he is satisfied with the schedule including that the Maldives' last match will be against India.

Five teams are competing in the the 13th edition of the SAFF Championship; Bhutan had earlier informed they would not be able to participate if the championship was held this year due to travel restrictions in and out of the country due to the pandemic while Pakistan is ineligible to participate because of a FIFA suspension.

This is the second time Maldives will be hosting the highly-anticipated SAFF Championship. The first time was in 2008, with Sri Lanka. That time Maldives brought home the SAFF Championship trophy for the first time. The last SAFF championship was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2018 where Maldives and India made it to the finals. Maldives took home the trophy that year as well.

While the national football team is training for October's tournament, Suzain was appointed caretaker coach earlier this month. The team is to travel to Qatar for training on September 10, with efforts underway to arrange friendlies against Qatari teams.