The dream of a South Asian Champions League

A dream project of South Asian Football Federation president Kazi Mohammed Salahuddin is the creation of a SAFF Club Championship, which Salahuddin has termed as what could be the South Asian Champions League. Sounds great, but there are numerous problems ahead if the dream is set to become reality.

Yesterday at the 2013 SAFF Championship draw ceremony in Kathmandu, Salahuddin had once more made the point, “This championship is my biggest dream! But when I talk to India, they are not comfortable with the schedule. There are two big problems, India and the sponsorships. Indian team is very important.”

And it reminds me about what Kazi Mohammed Salahuddin had told me on numerous occasions in the last two/three years about his plans to increase the number of tournaments that the South Asian Football Federation organises. A few years ago, it was only the SAFF Championship; now the regional body organises the SAFF Women’s Championship and the Under-16 SAFF Championship with plans for an Under-19 SAFF Championship, but as Salahuddin said in his own words the dream remains a SAFF Club Championship.

The sponsorship problem is one, which could be solved through engaging a sports management agency to manage the tournament, but India’s reluctance to push forward with it being part in such a regional club competition with the top two I-League clubs part of it has to do with the Indian calendar, which is more than just full and the question mark behind the level of competition in such a club competition.

But it is also clear that without Indian participation such a tournament will not see the day of light. So we will have to see if Kazi Mohammed Salahuddin can fulfil his dream of a South Asian Champions League.