The SAFF Championship, the most prestigious tournament in South Asian football, will not be held this year. The 15th edition of the competition will be held next year, the South Asian Football Federation (SAF) has said. The South Asian football governing body confirmed this in a press release on its website today. Although the competition has been postponed until next year, SAF did not clarify when and where it will be held. The tournament was scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in June-July this year.
The release said that SAF member countries and SportFive (commercial rights holder) feel that more time is needed to complete the event properly. Therefore, this year's SAFF Championship has been postponed. If everything goes well, the tournament will be held in 2026.
The 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026. SAF wants to finalize the venue and date keeping in mind The Greatest Show on Earth. The announcement also mentioned this, 'We want to organize the tournament in a grand manner. We are also considering the 2026 World Cup year. Therefore, special importance will be given to determining the appropriate time and venue to organize the SAFF Championship.'
Since 1993, 14 SAFF tournaments have been held. India became the champion for the first time. They have won the title a maximum of 9 times. Maldives have won the championship 2 times. And Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have got the opportunity to celebrate with the trophy once each.
The last tournament was held in Bengaluru, India in 2023. India won its ninth title by defeating the visiting team Kuwait.
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