SAFF Championship begins today

The 6th South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Champion-ship, the biggest football event in South Asia, begins today with Sri Lanka and Pakistan facing each other in the inaugural match at Bangabandhu National Stadium in the city.
The host Bangladesh takes on Bhutan in the second match of the opening day. The 6th SAFF Championship, sponsored by Beximco Group of Bangladesh, will end on December 13. Eight South Asian nations – defending champion Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and the host Bangladesh – are taking part in the competition.
Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith is expected to inaugurate the tournament as chief guest, the Senior Vice President of Bang-ladesh Football Federation (BFF) Abdus Salam Murshedi said at a news conference at BFF House on Thursday.
A brief but colourful opening ceremony will be held between the two matches of the opening day to entertain the spectators, Murshedi said.
State owned television terrestrial channel Bang-ladesh Television will telecast the matches live everyday from Bangaban-dhu National Stadium.
Bangladesh, which became champion in the 3rd SAFF Championship in 2003, looks to regain its lost glory winning its second crown. Former national goalkeeper Shahidur Rah-man Shantu has been appointed the coach of the Bangladesh national team after BFF had sacked its Brazilian coach Edson Silva Dido following a selection row.
Shantu earlier coached the Bangladesh team in the 9th South Asian Games in Islamabad, Pakistan in 2004 but failed to defend the gold medal, which Bangladesh won in the previous edition of the Games in Nepal in 1999. Bangla-desh was eliminated from the group phase in the 9th South Asian Games.
This is for the second time BFF is hosting the SAFF Championship after 2003.
Bangladesh became runners-up in the 4th SAFF Championship in 2005 in Pakistan under the guidance of Argentine coach Diego Andres Cruciani but Bangladesh failed to go past the first phase in the 5th SAFF Championship in Sri Lanka last year. Bangladesh drew with Afghanistan 2-2, Bhutan 1-1 and lost to Sri Lanka 1-0 in the last edition.