LAHORE, Sept 30: Peoples Sports Complex , Karachi will host the sixth South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship and hosts Pakistan meet Sri Lanka in the opening match on Dec 7.

The final of the 11-day competition will be played on Dec 17.

The championship will be competed by Pakistan, three-time champions India, holders Bangladesh, 1995 champion Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan.

Peoples’ Sports Complex, which hosted Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan World Cup qualifier on Nov 29, 2003, was given a green signal as the venue for 15-match tournament in a SAFF meeting held in Singapore on Thursday. Pakistan, was represented by PFF technical director Col Mujahidullah Tareen and Khalid Lateef.

The SAFF delegation had inspected the facilities of the Peoples Complex on Aug 23. The delegation also watched KPT-Wapda match in the evening to check the floodlights system.

The three-man delegation comprised Bangladesh’s Siraj-ul-Islam Bachchu, who is general secretary of Dhaka-based SAFF.

He was accompanied by marketing company Thomas Wheeler (Operations Executive) and Mohamed Shahrum Jappar (Events Executive).

After getting the go-ahead, the PFF announced the draws of the competition on Friday.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka are placed in Group ‘ A’ along with Maldives and Afghanistan while Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan in Group ‘B’.

Draws:

Dec 7: Maldives v Afghanistan; Pakistan vs Sri Lanka.

Dec 8: Bangladesh v Bhutan; India vs Nepal.

Dec 9: Maldives v Sri Lanka; Pakistan v Afghanistan.

Dec 10: Bangladesh v Nepal; India v Bhutan.

Dec 11: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan; Pakistan v Maldives.

Dec 12: Nepal v Bhutan; Bangladesh v India

Dec 14: Semifinals (Winner A v Runner-up B; Winner B v Runner-up A).

Dec 17: Finals.