COVID-19 pandemic forces SAFF Championship postponement to 2021!

The South Asian Football Federation held a video conference with their seven member associations – BFF (Bangladesh Football Federation), BFF (Bhutan Football Federation), AIFF (All India Football Federation), FAM (Football Association of Maldives), ANFA (All Nepal Football Association), PFF (Pakistan Football Federation), and FFSL (Football Federation of Sri Lanka) – taking part.

The meeting was chaired by SAFF general secretary Anwarul Haque with the AIFF represented by general secretary Kushal Das.

Amongst the things discussed were the dates of the 2020 SAFF Champions, originally planed for Septmber 7 to 19 and the SAFF youth tournaments for 2020, which are the SAFF U-15 Boys and Girls Championships.

The representatives of the member associations concluded that the 2020 SAFF Championship in Bangladesh will be postponed till next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A decision on the U-15 Championships will be taken in an upcoming joint video conference soon.

The SAFF Championships has often been a happy hunting ground for India with the Blue Tigers having won the title a record seven times, but the Maldives are the defending champions having beaten India in 2018 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.