The 2003 SAFF Gold Cup was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh between 10 January 2003 and 20 January 2003. All matches were played at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. Originally scheduled to be held between 26 January 2002 and 5 February 2002, the tournament was postponed due to the suspension of Bangladesh Football Federation by FIFA. Afghanistan were not in the draw, but were included in the tournament following an AFC recommendation to do so. It was also Bhutan's first tournament.
The final was contested by Bangladesh and the Maldives. Ali Umar had levelled in the second half after Kanchan had given Bangladesh the lead. The match went to penalties and Asraf Lufty had missed from the spot for the Maldives. Mohammed Sujan kept his nerve to score the final penalty giving Bangladesh a 5–3 victory, and with it, their first SAFF Cup championship. Pakistan's Safraz Rasool was top goal scorer.
Venue The Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka was the only venue for the tournament. It is also the home venue for Bangladesh national football team. Dhaka Bangabandhu National Stadium Capacity: 36,000 Squads
Group stage
Group A
Group B
Knockout phase
Bracket
Semi-finals
Third-place match
Final
Champion
Goalscorers
4 goals Sarfraz Rasool
3 goals
Rokonuzzaman Kanchan Ashim Biswas Alvito D'Cunha Ali Shiyam Ali Umar
2 goals
Nirajan Rayamajhi Ariful Kabir Farhad Ashraf Luthfy Mohamed Nizam
1 goal
Alfaz Ahmed Kumar Thapa Ibrahim Fazeel Arif Khan Joy Dev Narayan Chaudhary Zahid Niaz Motiur Rahman Munna I.M. Vijayan Abhishek Yadav
References
External links RSSSF 2003 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation