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Maldives
Football has been practicing in Maldives from late 1940s, but Football Association of Maldives (FAM) as the governing body of all football related activities was founded in 1982. Maldives became a member association of AFC and FIFA in 1984 and 1986 respectively. Maldives successes include winning silver twice in SAFF Championship and another in SAFF Games. A draw against World Cup semi finalists South Korea in a WC Qualifying match was another bright day. 
The Administration The Football Association of Maldives has a Team, working together with Executive comities with the aim of different effective , efficient professional support for the development of football in the Maldives. The Football Association of Maldives is a member of Four main bodies; the National Olympic committee, FIFA, AFC and the SAAF. Contact Information FA MALDIVES FAM house Ujaalaa Higun Male, Maldives Tel: +960 3317 006 Fax: +960 3317 005 www.famaldives.gov.mv |
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SAFF championship delays
South Asian Football Federation has announced a reschedule of the highly anticipated tournament from the last week of May and first week of June 2008. It was disclosed by FIFA’s Development officer for the region, Manilal Fernando in a press briefing held in Football House in Sri Lanka yesterday. Fernando said that the decision was taken by the Executive committee when they met yesterday. The decision to postpone was passed unanimously. This would bring back smiles to the organising committee in Maldives for the SAFF Championship, however it would create a lot of problems for the first division clubs. Citing reasons for the rescheduling of the championship Fernando said that Indian representative has informed that they are unable to send the national team for the championship as they are engaged in the World Cup qualifying round matches which has to be completed by February. Maldives bagan their campaign against Yemen today. He further added that India is an important partner of SAFF and it was necessary for us to have them play in this tourney. This was the main reason Exco had to go for this postponement. The draw for the tourney is scheduled for February 26, 2008 in Male’, Maldives. The teams will be divided into two groups. One semi-final will be played in Male while the second will be played here. The final too will be played in Colombo. In case Sri Lanka - Maldive semi final the venue will be decided on a toss of coin, said Fernando. He said that world sports group of Singapore the sponsors of the Asian Soccer since 1992 has come forward as the sponsor for the championship. The sponsors have agreed to offer prize money to the value of 95,000 US dollar, winner collecting 50,000, runners-up 25,000 and losing semi-finalists 10,000 each. At this Exco meeting it was also decided to hold the Annual General Meeting of the SAFF in July 8, 2008. The other two decisions that were passed unanimously was to hold a junior soccer tournament U-16 on a proposal made by the Indian representative with a view to promoting the sport from the grass roots level. To hold the women's football championship for the region for the year 2008 in Sri Lanka too was finalised. Tom Wheeler who represented the sponsors World Sports Group said that they agreed for the postponement without any hesitation. He said that the cause shown for rescheduling is acceptable. As all the participants agreed it was a good sign and said that it will become a success. Islam Bachchu the Bangladesh who is also the Secretary of the South Asian Football Federation said that the President of SAFF Ganesh Thapa from Nepal who was to chair the EXCO meeting had skip it due to unavoidable reasons. FIFA Development Officer from Sri Lanka V. Manilala Fernando had to preside at the meeting with Chryshantha Perera CEO, FFSL and its Secretary Hafiz Marika representing Sri Lanka. Other members who attended the Exco are Mansoor Hassain (Bangladesh), A.H.A. Gaffoor, Hassan Manik (Maldives), Col. Ahmad Yar Khan Lodhi (Pakistan), Albert Colaco (India), Ugyen Wanchuk (Bhuthan) and Mukthar Ahmad Rustani (Afghanistan). FAM treasurer Zariyandh, who is currently managing FAM has stated that there will be a news conference in FAM tomorrow to give a clear picture of decisions taken in exco meeting. |
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Maldives loose qualifier
Maldives National team has lost their encounter against Yemen today in their quest in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Maldivian players felt the bitterness of weather with 11 degrees celsius and humidity level of just 17% and Yemen took the best of the advantage and thrumped with 3 goals to boost their chances of qualifying for the next stage of the qualifying rounds. However, Maldivian players got several chances to score including two superb chances created by powerful striker Ali Ashfaaq. But the two chances were wasted by Victory's heroic star, Assad. Ashfaaq beated two players and crossed to Assad Ali inside the box, Assad Ali's weak shot went out near the post In another attack, Assad Ali tried to shoot from the long ball given by Umair, two defenders of Yemen were near him and Assad Ali clashed with Yemen's keeper and had to be given treatment for it. Yemen scored their first goal from a corner and when everyone was crowded in the penalty area. Yemen's players sho was deflected off Assad Abdul Ghanee and it went inside the goal. According to football experts keeper Rameez was in the wrong position to save the ball and because of it he did not have any chance to save it. Mukhthar and Ali Umar are very likely to be used in the second half Maldives team's Assistant coach Mohamed Shiyaz says that players feeling difficulty in breathing and also they are little bit lower in holding the ball and bit more mis passes by the players. Shiyaz says there won't be any change in the beginning of the second half of the game. He says that overall performnace is good Ashfaaq also got a great chance in the second half when he took a shot from inside the box after beating three defenders, Yemen keeper saved the ball In the second half, Maldives coach brought in Mukthaar for Umair but the play did not improve much. Yemen scored their second in the 66th minute. Yemen player got the ball inside the penalty area and took a powerful shot. His shot went straight in to the top corner of the goal. Keeper Rameez tried to save the ball, but it did not touch his hands. Ali Umar was also brought in for Ashfaaq who got injured during the game. Yemen got several chances in the second half as Maldives lost their pace and the rythm. Yemen scored there third goal from a carless clearance by Akram. The ball was recieved by a Yemen player inside the penalty area and his shot went straight to the top corner of the goal After the match, Assistant coach Shiyaz said that the players faced huge difficulties in breathing. Because of the low humidity and the coldness. The match was played at 2200m above sea level.. he also mentioned that out of the three goals, the last two goals were big mistakes of the team. Manager Shah said that the score margin was a little bit high but he believes that the team has potential to beat Yemen at home if they try a little bit harder. He also noted that the players felt thei tiredness. Sports Physician Shakeeb said that the climate was one of the constraint to the players and key striker Ali Ashfaaq would be recovered within a week and he would be able to join in Male' practices!  |
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SAFF Championship to kick off in June
FAM has announced that SAFF Championship would be held from 3rd June to 14th June in Sri Lanka and Maldives. SAFF’s executive committee meeting which was held yesterday just confirmed that it would be held from the last week of May to first week of June. But in a press release and a circular sent to all the memeber organisations, SAFF has announced the exact dates. FAM’s general secretary Abdul Hameed Abdul Ghafoor who participated in the meeting confirmed in a press breifing held in FAM house today. “They just confirmed that the competition would be delayed in yesterday’s meeting. But it was today that the confirmation of dates were sent.” Abdul Hameed Abdul Ghafoor also confirmed that the opening ceremony which would be held on 3rd would be in Male’. “The opening ceremony would be held in Male’ on 3rd and the closing ceremony on 14th in Sri Lanka” He also explained that FIFA congress would be held on May 28th and SAFF did not want to coincide the huge event to the congress. The draw of the competition would be held on 26th of February 2008. FAM ( FOOTBAAL ASSOCIATION OF MALDIVES )  |
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Of oxygen and high altitude
So now it transpires high altitude and lack of oxygen has been the culprit which stole any competition from a contest which could have gone either way. The obvious next question is can they do it better at home, in front of home crowd where you have oxygen in abundance. No, a win is not enough; a much more enormous task lies ahead. You have to beat a team twenty-four spots ( Sept 7) above you in FIFA ranking by a big 4-0 to stay in contention to progress to next round. Here we can say statics are nothing more than mere figures as it all depends on how often you play and win international games with more recent results and more significant matches being more heavily weighted to help reflect the current competitive state of a team. Maldives senior national team has never played a competitive international match in recent past, not in the last one year. So ranking may not fully real the truth. But it could not have masked the attacking flair and venomous possession Yemen have had throughout the game though in patches Maldives in desperation tried to exert some influence. The sad truth is there was no confident Imran between the posts but an unsettled, nervy Timo more inclined to waste time when he is supposed to make most of it. There was no Fazeel to lend some semblance of authority in mid-field and upfront. No Bonda, the best player of Dhivehi league to pull the string in the attack. Though it never does mean their presence in the fold could have won us a game. The truth is Yemen is not another group of amateurs from Middle East. They played neat passing, attacking game. The fact that we had real trouble in countering their onslaught tells the actual story. We were always on the back foot and off position due to the repeated non-stop waves and waves of attack. Hence the first goal off Captain Assad Abdul Ghanee – an own goal – when his keeper was caught out of position. Next two goals had both defensive errors and hand in keeper's amateurish antics. We may have had to encounter the furious climatic condition of the region but has that been the real problem. Maldives have always been a bundle of nerve when playing against beyond South Asian countries. And it has more often than not to do with a crisis in confidence. We never seem to play our natural game. We seem to be running on hot water. Our footwork will be wrong, passes will be misplaced; it is more of enmeshed in kick-ahead tactics. That is not football. It reeks of poor preparation and lack of international match experiences. One-day ahead international friendly is not enough to win competitive fixtures. Maldives football haven't been growing in strength to strength in the last couple of years, rather it has somewhat stagnated. But regionwise in recent years, Maldives has an amalgamation of talented and technically much superior players compare to South Asian neighbours. Yet we have not won a regional tournament. We have region best strikers yet we are found wanting even against cricket-crazy India. It is a pity to see a huge swathe of talent tottering on wastefulness. It had long been the time captain Assad lifted the regional tournament cup. Yet we have nothing to show for Fazeel's blazing skills and superb goal-keeping from Imran. Football is our national sport yet we are not able to show our superiority in the region. Isn't it something to do with our preparation? Have we been in equal footing with regional best, India? In a recently concluded Nehru Cup tournament, India's preparations have been long and daunting but to the spot. They had a conditioning camp in Portugal followed up with practice matches against select teams. India's English coach Bob Houghton has inculcated a sense of discipline and attitude woefully lacking Maldives national team. India won the tournament by beating Syria. There has to be a lurking malaise somewhere and it is an open secret the fault lies in inadequate preparation, insufficient international exposure and match-practice and that has been the bane of Maldivian football. |
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Oppo set to join Victory SC
VB striker Ibrahim Fazeel (Oppo) is set to join Victory for next season. A reliable source has confirmed that Oppo will sign for Dhivehi League champions in the coming days that will give him the chance to play in the AFC Cup next year. It is also believed that Valencia also approached the top scorer with a healthy offer. Oppo came into focus while he was studying in his secondary education and was selected to play for senior national team. After the studies he joined New Lagoons, which later was renamed to IFC and then VB sports. But in between he played for New Radiant, where he played at his best for couple of seasons and during that period he won Maldivian player of the year and top scorer for once. Last season wasn’t a good experience for Oppo in VB sports but managed to become the top scorer. Oppo is also a key figure in Maldives senior national team.  |
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Legend
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congratulations on the win against Oman
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thanx Tom ! wish u all best! |
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Habeeb joins VB
Valencia's prolific goal keeper Habeeb has decided to leave his long time served club and to join VB Sports. Speaking to maldivesoccer.com, Habeeb revealed that the main reason he decided to join VB Sports is there coach "I really would like to work under Kiss. Valencia also did not have any serious talks. They asked to wait and there was no news from them. " Habeeb has played for Eagles and IFC before in his professional football career According to reports Ali Ashfaaq has joined VB while a lot of prolific players has left the club. Ismail Mohamed, Mohamed Fareedh and Mohamed Arif and Ibrahim Fazeel has left the club. |
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Tom yet to decide which team to play
New Radiant striker Ahmed Thoriq (Tom) stated he is uncertain on which team he will play in next season. The prolific striker currently doing his undergraduate degree in Accounting in Malaysia will be returning in the mid November after completing his studies. A reliable source has confirmed that Tom is currently not in New Radiant’s contract and he is eligible to join any team for next season. “I will be returning in mid November, so I will be able to give my best in next season” Tom said in an online interview given to Maldivesoccer.com today. But he didn’t give a clear indication on which team he will join or whether any team is seriously in talks with him. “Right now I am quite busy preparing for my final exam, I don’t have much time to think about it” He added. “I will decide that (which team to play) once I returned” There are rumors that Valencia is keeping an eye on Tom for next season, and if that’s true they (Valencia) may speed up their process on getting Tom’s signature for next season since they have lost the race to sign Ibrahim Fazeel (Oppo). VB sports that lost their key striker Oppo, may also turn their sight on this talented striker. During his three years away for studies, Tom played for New Radiant on his holidays and the blues also provide necessary funding to get his assistance when things don’t go well for them. Tom also helped his island Mahibadhoo to win Zone 1-8 tournament and qualify to Dhivehi League in 2006. Tom is also among the 33 players coach Jankech selected for current national team squad  |
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Saanthi and Mohan to join AFC
National Teams two main pillars, Ihsaan Abdul Ghanee(Saanthi) and Mohamed Shiyaz (Mohan) is set out to join Asian Football Federation and both the coaches have confirmed it to maldivesoccer.com. The two coaches would transfer to AFC for a period of two years. Former Technical Director of FAM, Lim contributed to find the opportunity in AFC. Speaking to maldivesoccer.com, Ihsaan who is currently working as a youth development officer in FAM said that it was his life time dream to work for AFC. "I really wanted to work for AFC for a long time. This would be good for the football of Maldives too" Ihsaan has been working for a record number of years as an assistant coach for the senior national team and various junior national teams. Both these coaches who have recently received the A license is expected to join AFC by the end of July of next year. Maldivian Referee instructor Mohamed Ameez is working in AFC referees department at the moment. Saanthi ( L) & Mohan ( R) 
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Oppo to wear no. 23
Ibrahim Fazeel (Oppo) who’s netted 18 goals this season for VB sports club has signed a 1 year contract with victory sports club today. The 26 year old striker joined victory for an amount of MRF 300,000.00. A small ceremony held on Football Association of Maldives (FAM) today was the biggest transfer in this season. Valencia and VB are among the teams that shown interests to the player with a healthy offer. Oppo helped VB to go through to the president’s cup last season was the only Maldivian player reached the 18 goals. Oppo still has chance to become the top scorer of this season. Vyansa’s Kofi Debrah was the top scorer who scored 22 goals. Oppo came into focus while he was studying in his secondary education and was selected to play for senior national team. After the studies he joined New Lagoons, which later was renamed to IFC and then VB sports. But in between he played for New Radiant, where he played at his best for couple of seasons and during that period he won Maldivian player of the year and top scorer for once. Last season wasn’t a good experience for Oppo in VB sports but managed to become the top scorer. Oppo is also a key figure in Maldives senior national team.  |
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George, Assad and Sappe decide to stay in red
Victory striker Assad Ali, George Amando Rodriguez and Shaffaz (Sappe) decided to remain loyal to their club and are in the final stage of signing an extension to their current contract. Bigger clubs have approached Sappe and George for next season, but the trio has “almost” completed the new contract. Meanwhile Assad Ali, who scored crucial goals for Victory this season, also agreed to stay in Victory for next season. George from Paraguay joined Victory this season from a Malaysian club based in capital Kuala Lumpur, prior to that he played for Argentinian club Lorenzo. New Radiant coach Gerd personally called George and asked to join New Radiant for next season with a better salary. “Gerd asked me to join New Radiant. He promised that they will offer a better salary than Victory” George said. Meanwhile, Victory manager Mohamed Ibrahim (Kappi) said these three players have agreed to stay in Victory but didn’t sign the agreement yet. “These are players we have talked and confirmed. But everything isn’t finalized. Even if we have one page of their paper works to be done, we have to say it’s not completed, right?” He said. Kappi also added they are having a financial problem, which prevents them to progress in the transfer market at a desirable speed.  |
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Jameel gives one month ultimatum
Valencia has announced that they have been given till the end of this month to finalise the deal to sign their profilic defender Jameel. Valencia's manager Ahmed Mohamed spoke to maldivesoccer.com and brushed away the rumours that Jameel might opt to join New Radiant "Jameel did not sign Valencia yet, but we have arrived to an agreement and he has given till the end of this month to finalise the deal. So we would sign the agreement with him" Ahmed Mohamed did not want to announce the amount that has been agreed between Jameel and Valencia "We cannot announce the figure. But he would play for the same amount as we agreed before he left to Yemen" Jameel joined Valencia after the excellent season he spent in New Radiant in 2005 when they reached to the semi finals of AFC Cup.  |
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Maldives wins comfortably
Maldives has won their second encounter against Oman's first division fourth team by scoring a goal each in both half. Maldives National team who is in Oman right now preparing for the upcoming World Cup qualifier won the match easily by 2-0. Maldives goals were scored by Azim Hussain(andy) and Faruhaad Ismail. According to reports from Oman Maldivian National team coach Jozef Jankech rested Keeper Rameez (Timo) who played in the Oman game and rested key players. Ashfaaq, Fazeel (Oppo), Ali Umar did not take part in the game at all. Ismail Mohamed and Mukthaar played a vital role in the win and they played outstandingly in tonight's match. There was a significant change in the line up in defense as well. Jameel took the leading role in the defense today and performed outstandingly. The win would surely boost the confidence of the players. Maldives played their first friendly against Oman National team and lost by 1-0 
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 | ~8~ Maldivian Football ~8~ |
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