Paolo Maldini Kicks Off the Maldives Unity Cup Tournament for a Drug-Free Lifestyle

At 16:30 on December 27 in the National Stadium, Paolo Maldini of AC Milan will kick off the Unity Cup, a nation-wide soccer tournament advocating a drug-free and healthy lifestyle for young people. The event and the tournament to follow are co-presented by UNICEF, the Ministry of Youth & Sports and the Football Association of the Maldives.

Maldini, a world class football player, will holiday in the Maldives one year after the tsunami struck the country. Last year, while also on holiday, he and his family and several team mates survived the tsunami.

As a Goodwill Ambassador for the Italian National Committee for UNICEF, Maldini will take the opportunity of coming back to the Maldives one year later to promote a sports event that will bring attention to the growing substance use amongst children and adolescents around the country. Before participating in the event, Maldini will visit the Drug Rehabilitation Center (DRC) on Himmafushi Island and meet with recovering addicts to get a personal understanding of the drug issue, which is a growing social concern.

The government reports that over 40% of the population in the Maldives is under 15 years of age, and of this group, 15-20% are using drugs. In Male’ alone there are 5000 reported users, which is 6% of the country’s population. To add to these statistics, the National Narcotics Control Board (NNCB) of the Maldives has reported cases of children as young as 9 years of age now taking heroin.

Peer pressure, curiosity, boredom, and overcrowding contribute to the drug problem amongst youth. Police reports have shown a rapid increase in drug-related crimes in Male’ and the atolls, including theft, sexual harassment, child abuse and gender-based violence. While the drug problem in the Maldives has been growing exponentially over the past 5 years, the Tsunami exacerbated the situation because it created new vulnerabilities for drugs to flow into the affected communities.

There is also a lack of awareness amongst young people on the risks associated with using drugs. “But most importantly there are not enough positive recreational activities for young people to engage in as a clean and healthy alternative,” says Ken Maskall, UNICEF Representative in the Maldives. “That’s what we are trying to do now. Give these kids better choices. With the Unity Cup tournament, we want to reach every corner of the country with our drug-free message, even the islands where there isn’t enough space for a proper football field.”

In 2006, UNICEF will support the government of the Maldives in a national drug prevention and information campaign. The Unity Cup is one of many new initiatives. Others include, developing a community-based model for drug rehabilitation, and providing recreation and livelihood opportunities to young people on the islands.

Source: Unicef Media Release

AC Milan's Maldini returns to Maldives

Paolo Maldini, the A.C. Milan fullback who was in Maldives when the Indian Ocean tsunami struck, is back to help fight rising drug abuse in the archipelago.

Maldini was on vacation in the low-lying islands when the tsunami hit on Dec. 26, 2004. He has returned a year later, UNICEF spokeswoman Meital Rusdia said Tuesday in the capital, Male.

Several other Italian soccer players - including AC Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi and Juventus defender Gianluca Zambrotta - were also in Maldives, but all the players were unhurt by the tsunami, which killed 82 people there.

On Tuesday, Maldini was set to kick off the nationwide Unity Cup soccer tournament in the islands - an event to promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle for young people.

Drug abuse has been rising quickly among youth in Maldives in the past five years, and UNICEF said the tsunami exacerbated the situation by making disaster-hit communities more vulnerable to the drug inflow. The government says that over 40 percent of the country's population is under 15 years old, and that 15 percent to 20 percent of this group are using drugs.

UNICEF is organizing the tournament along with the country's Ministry of Youth & Sports and the Football Association of the Maldives.

FIFA, soccer's world governing body, ranks Maldives in 141st place among 205 soccer playing countries.

FIFA, AFC help salvage soccer in tsunami-hit region

Soccer's international governing body (FIFA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) are financing repairs to the facilities in preparation for the team's return to the Indonesian 1st Division for the first time since last year's undersea quake, tsunami and subsequent relief operations devastated the site.

As the rescue effort gradually wound down, FIFA and the AFC launched a $10.5 million Tsunami Solidarity Fund for soccer infrastructure reconstruction in areas affected by the tsunami, $3 million of which will go to Aceh.

The money also will help fund numerous projects in Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Thailand, where a Tsunami Memorial Football Center will be built. In the Maldives, relief financing was directed into repairs to the damaged headquarters of the national soccer body and its training center, while in Sri Lanka 13 separate reconstruction projects were funded.

Much of the money in Aceh was spent on donations of soccer equipment for the many traumatized children — sport and play was considered essential to help their recovery. FIFA and the AFC also sent delegates to set up coaching and refereeing courses, local tournaments and soccer clinics for homeless kids.

Bhutia savours record third title

India captain Baichung Bhutia became the first player in history to collect three South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship winner's medals after his goal made the game safe in Saturday's final against defending champions Bangladesh in Karachi, Pakistan.

This year's edition, the fourth, brought together eight nations from South Asia including: Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, Afghanistan and hosts Pakistan with all of the games being staged at the People's Sports Complex between 7 and 17 December 2005.

Maldives jumps 14 places up in FIFA Rankings

Excellent performance at the South Asian Football Federation Championship in Karachi has resulted in Maldives gaining 14 places in the latest FIFA rankings. Maldives moved up from 147th spot to 133rd in the December rankings of the world governing body of football.

Among other South Asian nations Sri Lanka came in at 144th place while Pakistan and beaten SAFF finalists Bangladesh, both of whom gained 10 spots each, were ranked 158th and 160th respectively while India remains at 127th place after gaining 8 points. Nepal were placed 175th, a gain of six spots, while Afghanistan, which won its first match in SAFF history beating Sri Lanka, climbed nine places to 189th.

Japan is the top-ranked Asian team followed by Iran and South Korea.

Fifa Rankings

India wins the SAAF final

A goal in each half gave India a 2-0 win over defending champions Bangladesh in the final of the SAFF football championship at the People’s Stadium in Karachi on Saturday.

Mehrajuddin Wadoo broke the ice in the 33rd minute and skipper Baichung Bhutia sealed victory when he scored in the 79th minutes to give India their fourth title -- first since 1999.
The title victory also added another feather to the cap of coach Syed Naeemuddin who won his second SAFF gold after he earlier coached India to glory in the 1997 event in which Charlton Chapman’s team defeated Maldives 5-1 in Kathmandu.

It was India’s 10th victory over Bangladesh who are left with just three victories in 20 meetings.

Maldives will get US$ 10,000 from SAFF Championship

Losing semi-finalists Pakistan and the Maldives will pocket $10,000 each from the SAAF Championship while the winners of this event will get $50,000 and runners-up $25,000.

India are playing the SAFF final for the fifth time while Bangladesh for the third time. Bangladesh won the last edition of the championship in 2003 at Dhaka.

India have won the SAFF Championship thrice and they have a good record against Bangladesh, beating them nine times in the last 19 meetings. Bangladesh emerged victorious on only three occasions. Under their Argentinean trainer-coach, Bangladesh are hoping to retain their crown.

Title-holders Bangladesh will clash with their traditional rivals India in the final of the 6th South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship at the people’s Sports Complex in Pakistan today.

Source: DT

Maldivian trio leads the race for 2005 SAAF Championship top scorer award

Three Maldivian players are hot on the heels of Bangladeshi trio Ariful Kabir Farhad, Mohamed Rokanuzzaman Kanchan and Zahid Hassan Ameli in the race to be crowned 2005 SAFF Championship top scorer. The Maldivian trio Ali Ashfaq, Ahmed Thariq and Ibrahim Fazeel lead the way with three goals each while the Bangladeshi players have two a piece.

India’s Mehtab Hussain is also on two goals but his second yellow card of the tournament in their semi-final victory over the Maldives has seen the Mohun Bagan midfielder suspended for Saturday’s final.

Bangladesh brush aside Pakistan to face India in SAAF final

Mohammed Sujan, scorer of the decisive penalty in the 2003 SAFF final shootout, slotted home a first half spot kick as Bangladesh beat Pakistan 1-0 in Wednesday’s semi-final. The two defensively solid sides seemed to cancel each other out in the opening stages and it took 17 minutes for Pakistan to create the first real chance of the match when a slide rule pass from Imran Niazi sent the impressive Farooq Shah into the danger zone Firaj Muhammad Hossain, known popularly as Titu did just enough to put Shah off and the Pakistan forward missed the chance.

Sixty seconds after Muhammad Essa skewed a 25th minute shot high and wide, some nimble footwork from Motiur Rahman Munna fashioned a shooting opportunity but Pakistan keeper and captain Jaffar Khan was equal to the midfielder’s curling shot. An uncharacteristic error from Zesh Rehman allowed Ariful Kabir Farhad a shot at goal but the forward put too much purchase on his curling effort which meant the Fulham defender’s missed header went unpunished.

However, on the stroke of half-time a needless high tackle from Abdul Aziz in the area was enough to convince referee Khodadad Ashfarian to point to the spot although Titu went down somewhat theatrically just in case the Iranian official had not seen what was a clear foul by the Iranian forward.

Mohammed Sujan, who converted the winning penalty in Bangladesh’s shootout victory over the Maldives in the 2003 SAFF championship final, held his nerve to sweep home the resultant spot kick as Khan was finally beaten after 225 minutes of football. Pakistan came close to equalising 13 minutes into the second half when Essa created space for himself with a neat drag back before angling a low pass across the Bangladesh area.

The ball found its way to Shah after an intelligent dummy but Bangladesh keeper Aminul Hoque was out sharply and managed to block the shot and then delay the subsequent corner kick by making the most of a slight knock from Shah’s trailing leg. It was a rare chance for Pakistan as Bangladesh sensibly kept possession making the home side chase every ball.

In the second minute of time added on Pakistan had one final throw of the dice when they were awarded a free-kick 25-yards from goal and just a few yards away from the right side line.
Inexplicably Essa went for the spectacular when he perhaps should have chipped the ball into the box, with the six foot four inch Rehman providing the perfect target.

But is was a chance squandered as Sujan’s penalty proved to be enough to put the defending champions into the final where they will meet India, who also had a narrow victory as they edged the Maldives 1-0. Despite falling to guide Pakistan to their first SAFF Championship final, head coach Salman Ahmed Sharida was pragmatic in defeat accepting that ultimately the experience of the defending champions told in the end.

Source: Football Asia

India defeats Maldives to book SAAF final

India made it to the SAFF Championship final for the third time if four tournaments after a Nanjangud Manju diving header was enough to see the two-time champions defeat the Maldives.

Talismanic skipper Baichung Bhutia led out an India squad without the suspended Mehraj Uddine Wadoo, on a quest to become the first player to win three SAFF Championships. But for the first half hour the 1997 and 1999 SAFF gold medallists cut a lonely figure upfront as the Maldives had the upper hand but they struggled to translate their dominance into goals
Ibrahim Fazeel and then captain Abdul Assad Ghani failed to find the target with well-positioned free-kicks in the opening ten minutes before Ali Ashfaq looked to have given the Maldives the lead midway through the half.

Ahmed Thariq made light work of Mahesh Gawali on the right wing and whipped in a dangerous cross into the penalty area. Ashfaq and India goalkeeper Sandip Nandy both went for the lose ball and the New Radiant striker looked to have won the race, prodding home what he thought was his fourth goal of the campaign. However, Yemeni referee Mukhtal Al Yarimi had thought Ashfaq had fouled the Mahindra United keeper in the process and ruled the effort out.
It had no effect on the pattern of the game as the Maldives continued to dictate the play and they should have gone ahead on the half hour mark.

Thariq’s perfectly weighted pass split the India offside trap and released Ashfaq into the danger zone. Showing a turn of pace, a deftness of touch and speed of thought that made it easy to understand why he caught the eye of Portuguese giants Benfica, he cut the ball across the area towards Thariq knowing that a shot at goal would have been blocked by Nandy, who was already at the feet of the forward. However, Thariq under hit the shot towards the unguarded net which allowed Muttath Suresh to hook the ball to safety before it had crossed the line. With seven minutes left in the half India, who had grown in confidence with every Maldives miss, took the lead.

Attempting to clear Shanmugam Venkatesh’s corner Ghani only succeeded in knocking the ball across the face of the goal where it was met by Nanjangud Manju’s diving header
With the Maldives chasing the equaliser, a superb 35 yard cross field pass from Fazeel set Mohamed Nasir free down the right channel but his low cross, 12 minutes after the restart, was poorly hit and claimed comfortably by Nandy before the dangerously positioned Thariq could pounce.

India looked to have doubled their advantage in the 70th minute when Syed Rahim Nabi headed Krishnan Nair Ajayan’s cross home from close range but for the second time in the match Al Yarimi disallowed the goal, with the the East Bengal forward deemed to be in an offside position when he diverted the ball into the Maldives net.

Bhutia almost got India’s second with five minutes left to play when the 1999 SAFF Championship top scorer and player of the tournament flicked a route one ball into the penalty box towards goal, but in truth it lacked the power to really trouble Mohamed Imran in the Maldives goal.

Time was running out for the Maldives to find the goal that would keep alive their hopes of appearing in a second consecutive SAFF Championship final but it was India that had the ball in the net with a minute left to play.

However, Al Yarmi completed his hat-trick of disallowed goals when he correctly ruled out substitute Abdul Hakim’s tap in after Bhutia had clearly fouled the Maldives keeper.
It mattered little as Manju’s goal was enough to take India to the final for the third time in four tournaments.

Match will be won with sacrifice: Stoikof

The coach of the Maldivian national football team has said that the semifinal match of the SAFF Championship against India will be won with ‘sacrifices’.

India hold Bangladesh, face Maldives in semis tomorrow

Three-time winners India were held to a 1-1 draw by defending champions Bangladesh in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship here.With the draw, Bangladesh and India have equal points, but the former topped Group B on goal average.

Bangladesh will now take on Group A runners and hosts Pakistan, while Group B runners India will take on Group A winners Maldives in the semi finals tomorrow.

India dominated the match especially in the first half and midfielder Climax Lawrence put India ahead in the 17th minute. But, they were reduced to 10 men in the 42nd minute after Sri Lankan referee H Dilan Perera gave the marching orders to India player Mehraj Din Wadoo for dissent. For Bangladesh, Zahid Hasan Ameli restored parity in the 77th minute.Meanwhile, in an inconsequential match, Nepal beat Bhutan 3-1.Surendra Tamang, Basanta Thapa and Bijay Gurung were on target for Nepal while Bikash Pradhan scoreda consolation goal for Bhutan.

Honours even in top of the table clash

The Maldives and hosts Pakistan played out a disappointing goalless draw in the final Group A match, a result which meant the Indian Ocean islanders took top spot on account of their superior goal difference.

With both sides already through to the last four the first half was a low key affair, not surprisingly dominated by Pakistan who not only wanted to win in front of their own fans but to avenge their 1-0 loss to the Maldives in the semi-final of the 2003 SAFF Championship.
The home side should have gone ahead in the 13th minute with what transpired to be the best chance of the entire game.

Mohammad Essa, who scored the winner against Afghanistan, split the Maldives defence with a pinpoint pass to Adeel Ahmed but Imran Mohammed was alert to the danger and was quickly off his line to block the Pakistan attacker’s close range shot.

The Maldives lacked the attacking verve they showed against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka although Ali Ashfaq, who was once offered a trial with Portuguese giants Benfica, had a couple of entertaining tussles with Zesh Rehman, most notably in the 37th minute when the 5 foot nine inch New Radiant forward bundled over the statuesque Fulham defender as the two challenged for the ball near the Pakistan bye line.

The 2003 beaten finalists played with more purpose in the second half, with Ashfaq in particular trying to provide the creative spark that would break the deadlock.

However, the two SAFF heavyweights cancelled each other out and the match was ultimately a disappointment. It will be a very different story if the two emerge victorious from the respective semi-final and meet in the 2005 SAFF Championship decider.

Maldives book semi-final berth

A comfortable 2-0 defeat of tough-tackling Sri Lanka, who were reduced to ten men after the second half sending off of K. Jayasuria, was enough to see the enterprising Maldives book their ticket to the knockout stage for the fourth successive SAFF Championship.

Surprisingly, the Maldives went into their second Group A fixture having not won against Sri Lanka in their past five meetings although Bulgarian coach Iordan Stoikov was at the helm of the side that put four past them in the 1999 SAF Games in Nepal.

The Maldives, runners-up at the last SAFF Championship in Bangladesh, needed just 11 minutes to score in their 9-1 opening match win over Afghanistan and had the first chance of Friday’s clash after just five minutes, although S.D. Thilakaratne’s theatrical save may have made Ahmad Thariq’s header seem closer to opening the scoring than it actually was.
The head of Thariq played a key role when the Maldives took the lead ten minutes later when the 25-year-old New Radiant forward knocked a long free-kick from skipper Ghani Assad Abdul into the path of Ali Ashfaq, who slotted home his third goal of the tournament with ease.
The Maldives twice came close to doubling their lead on the half hour mark when a header from Ali Umar’s corner kick was cleared of the line by K. Kumara before a snapshot from Ashfaq was superbly saved by Thilakaratne.

Sri Lanka were having great difficulty dealing with the pace and skill of the Maldives attack and, with ten minutes left in the half, a shocking late challenge by H. Hettiharachichi on the rampaging Gasim Shamveel had Stoikov off the bench protesting at the treatment being dished out by the 1995 South Asian Gold Cup winners.

Ashfaq almost provided the perfect riposte but he curled the resultant free-kick just wide of the right hand post.

The roughhouse tactics of the Sri Lankans continued into the second half and K. Jayasuria was rightly red carded in the 70th minute for a shocking two-footed tackle from behind on Ashfaq before substitute A. Kumara become the latest Sri Lankan in the referee’s book for a foul on Ali Umar a minute later.

With ten minutes left to play the Maldives were given a chance to double their advantage when Thilakaratne chopped down Thariq in the penalty box when the New Radiant striker was put clear on goal with a superb through ball.

Thilakaratne was perhaps lucky that it was deemed his transgression only warranted a yellow card but Ali Umar made sure the keeper’s next action in the game was picking the ball out of the net after he swept home the penalty.

With six points and a goal difference of plus ten the Maldives are guaranteed a place in the semi-finals but will be hoping to top the group when they play their final Group Stage match against hosts Pakistan on Sunday.

Maldives routs Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s first ever SAFF Championship goal was scant consolation for the war-torn nation as they were swept aside by the Maldives, with the 2003 runners-up winning the tournament curtain raiser 9-1.

Ten minutes after the first meeting between the two sides kicked-off, Ali Umar put the Maldives ahead before Ibrahim Fazeel doubled the advantage in the 27th minute after Thariq Ahmed headed a long free-kick across the area towards the New Radiant attacker.

Ali Ashfaq made it 3-0 in the 33rd minute with an unstoppable drive before Sayed Maqsood reduced the deficit seven minutes later, heading home Afghanistan’s first ever SAFF Championship goal.

On the stroke of half-time Ali Umar turned provider when he intelligently cut the ball across the Afghanistan penalty area allowing the on-rushing Fazeel to emphatically drive the ball home before Thariq headed the Maldives’ fifth in first half injury time.

Any hopes that the Indian Ocean islanders would take the foot of the gas in the second half were dismissed less than a minute after the restart when Thariq pounced to make it 6-1 after the Afghan keeper had spilled Umar’s shot.

Fazeel completed his hat-trick on the hour mark, heading home Ashfaq’s free-kick before some mesmerising skills and unselfish play from Ashfaq allowed Thariq to score his third and Maldives’ eighth with four minutes left to play.

But the scoring wasn’t finished there as Ashfaq completed the scoring a minute later drilling the ball home from a similar position where he set up Thariq.

Maldives' Sharpshooters Step Up For South Asian Cup

Even though tiny Maldives failed to qualify for Germany, they had a marvellous qualification round.

Ali Daei of Iran scored eight goals in the whole qualifcation round, becoming the top scorer of the Asian zone. However, Ali Ashfaag of the Maldives is next with six goals. There are two more Maldivian names in the leading scorers list, Ahmed Thoriq and Ibrahim Fazeel, each scored three goals. No other South Asian nation player scored more than twice during qualifiying. The Maldives have a team confident of success in the upcoming South Asian Football Federation Cup. Twenty year old Ashfaag is the Maldives leading scorer for the past three years and Maldives player of the year in 2003.The striker was linked with Portugal’s Benfica last year.after a bumper goalscoring year.

ND to Valencia

New Radiant’s substitute player Azim Hussian (ND) has signed up to play for Valencia next year. ND had signed up for Valencia on Thursday, under the release given by New Radiant, because ND had already made renewed his contract with New Radiant for next year.

National football team departs to Thailand

National foot ball team to compete in the SAFF championship has departed Thailand, to Pakistan this evening. SAFF championship is due on the 7th of this month at Karachi. In their training trip to Thailand National team competed with 3 major clubs of Thailand in three matches and brought home two matches.

In the championship Maldives shares Group A, with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Their first match of the competition will be on 7th of this month against Afghanistan.

Assad Is Maldives Skipper

Valencia captain Assad Abdul Ghanee has been selected as the captain of Maldives national team that will appear in the upcoming SAFF Championship.

Assad, who led Maldives to a remarkable goaless draw against South Korea and a win against Vietnam is generally regarded as the most suitable player in the squad to take the captain's armband. In an interview given to Television Maldives last night, National team manager Hiyalee Rasheed confirmed the captaincy and said Imran Mohamed, Maldives’ goal keeper, will be the vice captain. This means there is no change in this two posts since World Cup Qualifying. Maldives had three different captains in the last three SAFF championships. Shah Ismail lead Maldives to Dhaka in 2003, Mohamed Ibrahim (Kappi) to Goa in 1999 and Ibrahim Rasheed (Andharey) to Kathmandu in 1997.

Source: Goal . com

Maldives loses in final friendly match

The national team getting ready for SAAF Championship have lost the last friendly match played in Thailand by 2-1.

During this match national team met with Osotsapa, one of the leading teams of Thailand. The only goal scored for the Maldivian team was scored by forward Ali Ashfaag (Dhangadey) during the final half. Among the six goals scored in the friendly matches Ashfaag has scored five goals.