Quota system in SAFF football to be waived off

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec 10: The newly elected president of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Kazi Mohammad Salahuddin said he would do all he can to remove quota system for South Asian players in the home league matches. [break]



“Regional cooperation will strengthen and the hunt for talented players will become easy if the South Asian players are allowed to play in any country of the region without being subjected to the quota system,” Salahuddin made his views public amidst Nepali journalists on Wednesday. “European football is developed because there isn´t any quota system there. Now we need to develop football of this region,” he added.



SAFF Champions League is in the offing to strengthen the home leagues of all the nations of South Asia, announced Salahuddin. SAFF Women´s Championship and U-19 Football Championship for the national team will also be organized in the near future.



The decision to organize these matches will be approved by the SAFF meeting to be held on Saturday. “This is my personal proposal which needs support from all the nations. The commitment of the participants of the meeting is also essential,” Salahuddin said.



The SAFF president also revealed plans to invite Central Asian nations to compete in the women´s and U-19 championships. This will help the South Asian football teams to get exposed to the teams having high standards in football.



The SAFF Champions League will be organized in one country at present owing to the pitiful state of infrastructure of Afghanistan and Bhutan but will be conducted in “home and away” format of European Champions league later on.



SAFF cannot interfere in the matters of any country but if the SAFF Champions league is conducted properly, it will inevitably develop the home leagues of all the member nations,” said Salahuddin.



Salahuddin didn´t hesitate to praise the performance of Nepali team during the ongoing Sixth SAFF Championship. He agreed that Nepal had to share a point with the Maldives and face defeat from India despite their exemplary performance. “Nepal performed a lot better than the earlier edition but the results in two matches were unfavorable due to bad luck. In my personal opinion, Nepal deserved victory,” he Salahuddin, who happens to be a former star player of the famed Awami Club of Bangladesh.

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