SAFF Championship begins today in low-key affair

Reduced to a seven-team affair after Pakistan’s late pull-out, the 11th edition of South Asian Football Federation Championships will make a low-key beginning with Nepal taking on Sri Lanka in the opening match here on Wednesday.

Pakistan withdrew from the regional biennial football event due to internal legal problems regarding the election of their national federation officials.

India and Pakistan were to clash in the opening match of the tournament tomorrow with Nepal and Sri Lanka match being the other fixture of the day. But after Pakistan’s pull-out, the opening day on Wednesday will have just one match – Nepal vs Sri Lanka at the Kariavattom Greenfield Stadium. The Group A is now rendered just three teams – India, Nepal and Sri Lanka after Pakistan’s pull-out.