Sri Lanka has stated that their aim is to win the SAFF Championship football tournament to be held in their country this year. Sri Lanka has now begun preparations for the region’s biggest football tournament, which will be held from June 21 to early July. The President of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka, Jaswar Umar, said that hosting the “World Cup of South Asia” in Sri Lanka is a great pleasure for the country.
“Along with this, I have to say that our goal is to win this trophy this time. The reason is that it’s been been a long time since we won this trophy. We won the trophy in 1995. We haven’t won it since then. But we now have a good team,” said Jaswar. He said that Sri Lanka is progressing in the FIFA rankings and that it is a great satisfaction to have gained a five-rank improvement in a short period of time. He said that Sri Lanka will be fully prepared for the SAFF Championship and that they have already shared the work that needs to be done for the tournament with the Sri Lankan government.
The lack of good football facilities in Sri Lanka, especially when hosting the SAFF Championship, is a major concern for regional countries. It is believed that all countries in the SAARC region will participate in this tournament this time. That includes Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, and the most recent champion, India.
