SAFF Championship to be held in September 2021 in Bangladesh

The biennial international men's football competition of South Asia,  the SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Championship will be held tentatively from September 14 to 25, 2021 in Bangladesh, Goal understands. 

Pakistan was set to host this edition of the tournament but later it was shifted to Bangladesh. The BFF (Bangladesh Football Federation) has organised the competition thrice before in 2003, 2009 and 2018. 

On 11 April 2018, SAFF awarded the hosting rights of the 2021 SAFF Championship to Pakistan after FIFA restored Pakistan Football Federation's membership. It would have been the country's first international football tournament after the overturn of the ban. However, on 15 September 2019, SAFF president Kazi Salahuddin and general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal along with representatives of seven member countries decided to shift the venue to Bangladesh. 

The SAFF Championship was scheduled to be held in September 2020 but due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the tournament got postponed after an Executive Committee meeting on June 30, 2020. 

All matches will be held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka. The participating nations are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives. 

India are the most successful side with seven titles to their name. They won their seventh title in 2015 when they defeated Afghanistan 2-1 in the final. 

Maldives are the defending champions as they beat India by two goals to one in 2018 in Dhaka.