Tamil Eelam
AssociationTamileelam Football Association
ConfederationConIFA
World Unity Football Alliance
Head coachRagesh Nambiar
CaptainPrashanth Ragavan
Most capsGvinthan Navaneethakrishnan
Prashanth Ragavan (15)
Top scorerPrashanth Ragavan (12)
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Raetia 1–0 Tamil Eelam 
(Erbil, Iraq; 5 June 2012)
Biggest win
 Tamil Eelam 10–0 Darfur 
(Östersund, Sweden; 7 June 2014)
Biggest defeat
 Tamil Eelam 0–9 Kurdistan Region 
(Östersund, Sweden; 3 June 2014)
ConIFA World Football Cup
Appearances2 (first in 2014)
Best result11th (2014)
WebsiteTamileelam Football Association

The Tamil Eelam National Football Team (Tamil: தமிழீழத் தேசிய உதைபந்தாட்ட அணி) a representative football team for Tamil Eelam. The team, which consists of professional and semi-professional drawn from the Eelam Tamil diaspora community in Canada and Europe, was established in 2012 by the Tamileelam Football Association (TEFA).[1] TEFA is affiliated to the Confederation of Independent Football Associations, an umbrella association for entities unaffiliated with FIFA therefore cannot compete for the FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup since they are not affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). As of March 2020, the team was ranked 16th in the CONIFA World ranking.[2]

History

The Tamil Eelam Football Association was established by the Global Tamil Youth League on 8 April 2012.[3] The Tamil Eelam national football team made its international debut at the 2012 VIVA World Cup held in Iraqi Kurdistan, finishing in 7th place.[4][5] The team took part in the Tynwald Hill International Football Tournament History held on the Isle of Man in July 2013, finishing in 3rd place.[6][7][8] The team took part in the 2014 ConIFA World Football Cup held in the Sápmi region.[9][10]

Tournament record

World Cup record

Year Position P W D L F A
VIVA World Cup
Occitania 2006 did not enter
Sápmi 2008
Padania 2009
Gozo 2010
Kurdistan Region 2012 7th 4 1 0 3 4 11
ConIFA World Football Cup
Sápmi 2014 11th 4 1 0 3 12 15
Abkhazia 2016 did not qualify
Barawa 2018 14th 6 1 0 5 4 22
North Macedonia 2020
Cancelled
Kurdistan Region 2024
Qualified
Total Best: 7th 14 3 0 11 20 48
World Cup History
Year Round Date Stadium Score Result
VIVA World Cup
2012[11]
Round 1 (Group B) 5 June 2012 Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil Raetia  1-0  Tamil Eelam Lose
Round 1 (Group B) 6 June 2012 Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil Tamil Eelam  0-3  Zanzibar Lose
5th-8th Place Semi-Finals 7 June 2012 Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil Occitania  7-0  Tamil Eelam Lose
7th Place Match 9 June 2012 Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil Tamil Eelam  4-0  Raetia Win
ConIFA World Football Cup
2014[12]
Round 1 (Group A) 2 June 2014 Jämtkraft Arena, Östersund Tamil Eelam  0-2  Arameans Suryoye Lose
Round 1 (Group A) 3 June 2014 Jämtkraft Arena, Östersund Tamil Eelam  0-9  Kurdistan Region Lose
Placement Round 1 5 June 2014 Jämtkraft Arena, Östersund Tamil Eelam  2-4  Sápmi Lose
Placement Round 2 7 June 2014 Jämtkraft Arena, Östersund Tamil Eelam  10-0  Darfur Win
2018[13]
Round 1 (Group A) 31 May 2018 Hayes Lane, Bromley Barawa  4-0  Tamil Eelam Lose
Round 1 (Group A) 2 June 2018 Colston Avenue, Carshalton Ellan Vannin  2-0  Tamil Eelam Lose
Round 1 (Group A) 3 June 2018 St Paul's Sports Ground, Rotherhithe Tamil Eelam  0-6  Cascadia Lose
Placement Round 9th-16th 5 June 2018 Parkside, Aveley Abkhazia  6-0  Tamil Eelam Lose
Placement Round 13th-16th 7 June 2018 Gander Green Lane, Sutton Tamil Eelam  4-3  Tuvalu Win
Placement Round 13th-14th 9 June 2018 Parkside, Aveley Matabeleland  1-0  Tamil Eelam Lose

Asia Cup Record

CONIFA Asia Cup
Year Position P W D L F A
Portugal 2023 1st 3 3 0 0 9 2
Total Best: 1st 3 3 0 0 9 2
ConIFA Asia Cup
Year Round Date Stadium Score Result
2023 Group Stage 5 August 2023 Clube Olimpico Montijo Tamil Eelam 3-0 Hmong FF Win
Group Stage 7 August 2023 Clube Olimpico Montijo Tibet  1-3 Tamil Eelam Win
Final 9 August 2023 Clube Olimpico Montijo Tamil Eelam 3-1 Hmong FF Win

Tynwald Hill International Football Tournament

Tynwald Hill International Football Tournament
Year Position P W D L F A
Isle of Man 2013 3rd 3 2 0 1 10 8
Total Best: 3rd 3 2 0 1 10 8
Tynwald Hill International Football Tournament History
Year Round Date Stadium Score Result
2013[14][15][16]
Round 1 (Group 1) 4 July 2013 Mullen e Cloie, St John's Sealand  3 – 5  Tamil Eelam Win
Round 1 (Group 1) 6 July 2013 Mullen e Cloie, St John's Occitania  5 – 0  Tamil Eelam Lose
3rd/4th Place Match 7 July 2013 Mullen e Cloie, St John's Raetia  0 – 5  Tamil Eelam Win

Recent results

2019

10 October 2019 (2019-10-10) WC Qualification Match Yorkshire  1–2  Tamil Eelam Yorkshire, England
Stadium: Meadow Lane

Current squad

The following players are members of the current squad. They have played in the recent CONIFA 2020 WFC qualification matches. The CONIFA 2020 World Football Cup has been cancelled due to the unprecedented disruption of the coronavirus pandemic.[17]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Praveen Ahilan (1992-09-20) 20 September 1992 (age 31) 2 0 Canada Canada
12 1GK Jerome Marusilin (1994-12-14) 14 December 1994 (age 29) 1 0 France NUSC
13 2DF Ninon Paskarajesudasan (1993-09-15) 15 September 1993 (age 30) 3 0 France France
2 2DF Keerthihan Kalaialagan (1995-10-13) 13 October 1995 (age 28) 3 0 France France
25 2DF Thomas Thevasahayam (1995-06-09) 9 June 1995 (age 28) 2 0 France France
5 2DF Sujeen Ravinchandran (1993-08-20) 20 August 1993 (age 30) 2 1 France FC Bourget
23 2DF Jey Siva (1988-03-23) 23 March 1988 (age 35) 3 0 England Harlow Town
22 2DF Majuran Panchalingam (1987-01-27) 27 January 1987 (age 37) 1 0 Switzerland Switzerland
16 3MF Steven Sacayaradjy (1995-02-02) 2 February 1995 (age 29) 3 1 France France
8 3MF Panushanth Kulenthiran (1990-07-26) 26 July 1990 (age 33) 11 8 Italy AC Senna Gloria
6 3MF Mayooran Chelliah (1991-04-08) 8 April 1991 (age 32) 9 1 France CS Eelavar
17 3MF Senthuran Uthayasuthan (1992-09-30) 30 September 1992 (age 31) 3 6 France France
15 3MF Janothan Perananthan (1994-07-20) 20 July 1994 (age 29) 6 1 England Surbiton Sports
21 3MF Shara Sivananthan (1996-01-17) 17 January 1996 (age 28) 1 0 England UK
19 3MF Kisanthan Nagarasa (1998-12-28) 28 December 1998 (age 25) 1 0 Germany Germany
10 4FW Gvinthan Navaneethakrishnan (1990-03-28) 28 March 1990 (age 33) 15 8 Germany SV Kickers Büchig
7 4FW Prashanth Ragavan (1991-08-21) 21 August 1991 (age 32) 15 12 France Drancy United
9 4FW Kasthuran Chelliah (1990-08-09) 9 August 1990 (age 33) 6 2 Netherlands WDS'19
14 4FW Kirushan Confucious (1995-06-16) 16 June 1995 (age 28) 2 0 France France
20 4FW Agash Pathi (1997-01-25) 25 January 1997 (age 27) 1 2 Norway Stovner

See also

References

  1. ^ "Eezham Tamil football players take part in Viva World Cup for first time". TamilNet. 15 June 2012.
  2. ^ "CONIFA World Rankings".
  3. ^ "Tamil Eelam gets ready for VIVA World Cup". Tamil Guardian. 31 May 2012.
  4. ^ "Tamil Eelam makes international football debut". Tamil Guardian. 6 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Tamil Eelam at World Football Cup 2014". Tamil Guardian. 2 June 2014.
  6. ^ "Tournament attracts global media". Isle of Man Today. 26 June 2013.
  7. ^ "Tamil Eelam gets set for Tynwald Hill International Football Tournament". Tamil Guardian. 3 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Tamil Eelam celebrate 3rd place finish after stunning 5-0 victory". Tamil Guardian. 7 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Genocide survivors, stateless compete in non-FIFA World Cup". Gulf Times. Agence France-Presse. 7 June 2014.
  10. ^ "Tamil Eelam football team gets ready for ConIFA World Championship". Tamil Guardian. 27 April 2014.
  11. ^ "Calendar Results". 2012 VIVA World Cup. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012.
  12. ^ "Match Schedule". 2014 ConIFA World Football Cup.
  13. ^ "Stadium and ticketing information for CONIFA's 2018 Paddy Power World Football Cup". Confederation of Independent Football Associations.
  14. ^ "Tamil Eelam edge eight-goal Tynwald Tournament thriller with Sealand". Isle of Man Today. 5 July 2013.
  15. ^ "Tamil Eelam through to 3rd/4th place play-offs after losing to Occitania". Tamil Guardian. 6 July 2013.
  16. ^ "Occitania win Tynwald Hill International Football Tournament". Isle of Man Today. 8 July 2013.
  17. ^ "Announcement: CONIFA Sportsbet.io World Football Cup 2020 – CONIFA". www.conifa.org. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020.

External links

Non-FIFA and unaffiliated football teams competing internationally
Sri Lankan Tamil people
Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) members
Categories