Dr Shaji Prabhakaran, General Secretary of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), heaped praise on the SAFF Championship for its high competitive value, which he said is because of the inclusion of Lebanon and Kuwait as guests.Lebanon and Kuwait are both outside the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) region and have been invited by the AIFF as guest participants in this years iteration of the SAFF Championship.When passion is invested in abundance then the joy of a result is something special. #SAFFChampionship gets the competitive elevation as we thot while deciding to include teams outside SAFF region.We r on a track of progress but the destination of real success is little away pic.twitter.com/UCrBmehgaA— Shaji Prabhakaran (@Shaji4Football) July 2, 2023“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,” Dr Prabhakaran said in an AIFF press release.India vs Pakistan in SAFF Championship had cricket-like atmosphere: PrabhakaranAlongside the addition of two quality teams from West Asia, Prabhakaran also praised the rivalry between India and Pakistan as driving up the appeal of the match. He praised the fans who turned up at Bengaluru to support India for the crucial clashes.“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 social media have been great too, which shows that the average sports fan is very much keen on Indias progress in the tournament,” Prabhakaran said.The SAFF Championship will give the Indian team invaluable experience for the upcoming AFC Asia Cup, which is slated to take place in Qatar.India is set to face Kuwait for the finals of the SAFF Championship on Tuesday at Bengalurus Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
