SAFF Cup hasn't even kicked off, but teams are already complaining about facilities and logistics

Teams participating at the 11th SAFF Cup (South Asian Football Federation Championships), starting on 23 December said they look forward to competitive matches but voiced dissatisfaction over lack of facilities. Addressing a pre-match press conference, coaches of participating teams-India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh, said they were disappointed due to poor organisation. [caption id=“attachment_1103413” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture from Afghanistan’s win in the final of the previous SAFF Cup. AP[/caption] Peter Segrt, coach of defending champion Afghanistan, said they faced lot of problems with regard to accommodation, travel and even in getting a training ground. All coaches replied in the negative when asked if their teams had visited the stadium where the tournament will be held till 3 January. However, Segrt said, “We have to accept the situation. People here are very good. But we are happy to be here to play in the tournament. We will try to do our best.” Voicing similar sentiments on the facilities, Indian coach Stephen Constantine said he had not faced this kind of problem anywhere. He also said no one was taking responsibility for the poor organisation of the event. However, Indian team captain Sunil Chhetri said “we have to think about the game and we are doing it”. On the championship, he said they were looking forward to good matches and it would be a good experience and exposure for the youngsters. “Being the home team, we hope to perform better”, he added. Head coaches Patrick Aussems (Nepal), KM Sampath Perera (Sri Lanka), Rickie Herbert (Maldives), Pema Dorji (Bhutan), AK Maruful Haque (Bangladesh) plus the captains of all seven competing teams were present at the conference. India, Nepal, Sri Lanka are in Group A; while Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh are in Group B. Pakistan had pulled out of the tournament due to security reasons. The opening match is between Nepal and Sri Lanka. Soon after the pre-match press conference, state organising Committee Working President V Sivankutty, also local CPI(M) member of legislature, put the blame for poor facilities on the event organisers. “Everything is done by them. Travel, accommodation and other logistic support are being made by them. It is very sad that foreign teams coming to Kerala have to face such a situation,” he said. PTI