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Published : 24 Apr 2025, 03:10 PM
The 15th edition of the SAFF Championship, which was slated for July this year in Sri Lanka, has been postponed to 2026.
A statement on the website of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) on Thursday read, “The SAFF had decided to stage the prestigious SAFF Championship in a home or away format this year.
“Preparations had been made accordingly. However, SAFF, our Member Associations and SportFive felt that more arrangement needed to be in place to deliver the competition in a smooth manner.”
“Therefore, we have come to a decision to postpone the SAFF Championship to 2026 so that all our stakeholders and member associations have adequate time to organize the championship in a grand manner.”
Maldives news outlet The Edition reported SAFF Executive Committee member Ali Umar as saying that the postponement had been decided on as the federation's marketing partner wants to hold the championship on a home and away model, which is not possible this year.
It added that SAFF had initially attempted to hold the competition this year on a home and away model. However, if held in that format, the championship will stretch over two months, leading to higher expenses.
Due to this, they then decided to hold it in a centralised model, with Sri Lanka as hosts, Umar was quoted as saying.
SAFF's marketing partner has always held influence over deciding on a host country. As such, SAFF is now obliged to postpone the tournament, as they do not possess the financial means to hold the championship independently.
India has emerged as winners of the tournament nine times, Maldives twice, and Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka once apiece.
The tournament was last held in 2023 at India’s Bengaluru, where India beat guest nation Kuwait to lift the trophy in the biennial tournament.
