2013 SAFF Championship

The 2013 South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly referred to as 2013 SAFF Championship, was the 10th SAFF Championship for men's national football teams organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The tournament took place from 31 August to 11 September 2013, and was hosted by Nepal for the second time, with the previous being in 1997.^{[citation needed]}

2013 SAFF Championship

2013 SAFF Championship official logo
Tournament details
Host country	Nepal
Dates	31 August – 11 September
Teams	8
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Afghanistan (1st title)
Runners-up	India
Tournament statistics
Matches played	15
Goals scored	51 (3.4 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ali Ashfaq (10 goals)
Best player(s)	Mansur Faqiryar (MVP) Rabin Shrestha (Best Player from host country)
Best goalkeeper	Mansur Faqiryar
← 2011 2015 → All statistics correct as of 30 March 2019.

Host selection

Nepal were selected as hosts in September 2012 during the 2012 SAFF Women's Championship in Sri Lanka.^{[citation needed]}

Broadcasting

The tournament was broadcast live in Nepal on Kantipur Television Network, Tolo TV in Afghanistan and Television Maldives in Maldives. Every match was broadcast live on YouTube.

Participating nations

Along with the hosts, the other seven nations from the South Asian region participated in the tournament. India came into the tournament as the reigning champions from the 2011 edition.^{[citation needed]}

Team	Appearances in the SAFF Championship	Previous best performance	FIFA Ranking at start of event
Nepal	10th	Third-Place (1993)	170
Afghanistan	6th	Runners-up (2011)	139
Bangladesh	9th	Champions (2003)	158
Bhutan	6th	Semi-finals (2008)	207
India	10th	Champions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011)	145
Maldives	8th	Champions (2008, 2018)	153
Pakistan	10th	Third-Place (1997)	167
Sri Lanka	10th	Champions (1995)	170

Group draw

The draw ceremony took place on 30 July 2013 at Kathmandu's Soaltee Crowne Plaza was attended by a host of dignitaries including All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) Chairman Ganesh Thapa, SAFF President Kazi Salahuddin, Secretary Alberto Colaco and National Sports Council Member-Secretary Yubaraj Lama.^[1]

Group A	Group B
Bangladesh  India    Nepal  Pakistan	Afghanistan  Bhutan  Maldives  Sri Lanka

Venues

Kathmandu
Dasarath Rangasala Stadium	Halchowk Stadium
Capacity: 25,000[2]	Capacity: 3,500
Kathmandu

Squads

Further information: 2013 SAFF Championship squads

Match officials

On 22 August 2013, SAFF announced the 15 referees for the tournament.^[3]

Referees

• Tayeb Shamsuzzaman
• Pratap Singh
• Adham Makhadmeh
• Sudish Pandey
• Saleh Al Hethlol
• Hettikamkanamge Perera

Assistant referees

• Shirzad Alimaqa
• Ugyen Dorji
• Ahmad Al Roalle
• Issa Al Amawe
• Ahmed Ameez
• Naniram Thapa Magar
• Murad Waheed
• Abdulaziz Al Asmari
• Khalid Al Doghairi

Group stage

SAFF confirmed the groups and schedule on 30 July 2013.^[4]

All times listed are Nepali Standard Time.

Key to colors in group tables
	Teams that advance to the semi-finals Group winners Group runners-up

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Nepal	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7
India	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
Pakistan	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
Bangladesh	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1

Source: RSSSF

31 August 2013

18:30

Nepal	2–0	Bangladesh
Gurung 18' Khawas 31'	Report

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

1 September 2013

18:30

India	1–0	Pakistan
Samar Ishaq 14' (o.g.)	Report

Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

---

3 September 2013

15:30

Bangladesh	1–1	India
Meshu 82'	Report	Chhetri 90+5'

Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

3 September 2013

18:30

Pakistan	1–1	Nepal
Bashir 14'	Report	Magar 90+2'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Saleh Al Hethlol (Saudi Arabia)

---

5 September 2013

15:30

India	1–2	Nepal
Nabi 90+2'	Report	Gurung 70' Rai 81'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

5 September 2013

15:30

Bangladesh	1–2	Pakistan
Ameli 30'	Report	Ishaq 36' Kalim 90+2'

Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Saleh Al Hethlol (Saudi Arabia)

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Maldives	3	2	1	0	18	2	+16	7
Afghanistan	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7
Sri Lanka	3	1	0	2	6	15	−9	3
Bhutan	3	0	0	3	4	16	−12	0

Source: RSSSF

2 September 2013

15:30

Afghanistan	3–0	Bhutan
Amiri 37' Azadzoy 76' Barakzai 88'	Report

Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Sudish Pandey (Nepal)

2 September 2013

18:30

Maldives	10–0	Sri Lanka
Abdulla 5' Ashfaq 21' (pen.), 45+1' (pen.), 51', 53', 58', 87' Adhuham 76' Fasir 83' Umar 86'	Report

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Pratap Singh (India)

---

4 September 2013

15:30

Sri Lanka	1–3	Afghanistan
Mohamed Fazaluzzaman 36'	Report	Rafi 62' Amiri 76' Barakzai 87'

Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Sudish Pandey (Nepal)

4 September 2013

18:30

Bhutan	2–8	Maldives
P. Tshering 25' C. Gyeltshen 35'	Report	Fasir 16', 69' Umair 45+3' Ashfaq 48', 51', 76', 79' Umar 82'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Tayeb Shamsuzzaman (Bangladesh)

---

6 September 2013

15:30

Afghanistan	0–0	Maldives
	Report

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Tayeb Shamsuzzaman (Bangladesh)

6 September 2013

15:30

Sri Lanka	5–2	Bhutan
Izzadeen 19', 26', 50', 90+3' P. Dorji 32' (o.g.)	Report	P. Tshering 45' Tenzin 58'

Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Pratap Singh (India)

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	8 September – Dasarath Rangasala
	Nepal	0
					11 September – Dasarath Rangasala
	Afghanistan	1
					Afghanistan	2
	9 September – Dasarath Rangasala
					India	0
	Maldives	0
	India	1

Semi-finals

8 September 2013

18:30

Nepal	0−1	Afghanistan
	Report	Ahmadi 11'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Saleh Al Hethlol (Saudi Arabia)

---

9 September 2013

18:30

Maldives	0−1	India
	Report	Mondal 86'

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

Final

Main article: 2013 SAFF Championship Final

11 September 2013

18:30

Afghanistan	2–0	India
Azadzoy 9' Ahmadi 62'	Report

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu

Referee: Tayeb Shamsuzzaman (Bangladesh)

Champion

SAFF Championship 2013
Afghanistan First title

Awards

The following awards were given for the 2013 SAFF Championship.^[5][6][7]

FIFA Fair Play Award			Hero MotoCorp MVP of host nation Award			MVP of the Tournament			Golden Boot Award			Golden Glove Award			NIVIA Best goal of the tournament
Nepal			Rabin Shrestha			Mansur Faqiryar			Ali Ashfaq			Mansur Faqiryar			Zohib Islam Amiri

Prize money

The prize money given to the top four teams:^[8]

Final placing	Prize money (US Dollars)
Champions	50,000
Runner-up	25,000
Semi-Finalists	10,000

Goalscorers

10 goals

• Ali Ashfaq

4 goals

• Mohamed Izzadeen

3 goals

• Ali Fasir

2 goals

• Sandjar Ahmadi
• Zohib Islam Amiri
• Mustafa Azadzoy
• Hashmatullah Barakzai
• Passang Tshering
• Ali Umar
• Anil Gurung

1 goal

• Mohammad Rafi Barakzai
• Jahid Hasan Ameli
• Atiqur Rahman Meshu
• Chencho Gyeltshen
• Sonam Tenzin
• Sunil Chhetri
• Arnab Mondal
• Syed Nabi
• Assadhulla Abdulla
• Hassan Adhuham
• Mohammad Umair
• Bharat Khawas
• Bimal Magar
• Ju Manu Rai
• Hassan Bashir
• Samar Ishaq
• Kalim Ullah
• Mohamed Fazaluzzaman

1 own goal

• Pema Dorji (playing against Sri Lanka)
• Samar Ishaq (playing against India)