The 14th edition of SAFF Championship 2023 is confirmed to start from the first week of June 2023 in Bangladesh. The date & venue has already been agreed by all the seven participating nations. It was All Nepal Football Association ANFA who was asked later by the SAFF to confirmed whether Nepal is ready with the dates.
Nepal has even been invited by AIFF for an international football tournament named Hero Intercontinental cup ahead of the SAFF Championship 2023.
When is SAFF Championship 2023 ?
The 2023 SAFF Championship will be the 14th edition of the SAFF Championship which is going to take place in the mid of June i.e. from June 20-July 3 in Bangladesh. ( Ashar 5-18 Nepali Date)
Where is SAFF Championship 2023 happening ?
- 2003 5th SAFF Championship, Winner Bangladesh
- 2009 8th SAFF Championship, Winner India
- 2018 12th SAFF Championship, Winner Maldives
How was the host selected?
Who are participating in the SAFF Championships 2023?
The SAFF Championship has always been held on a biannual basis (every two (2) years) which is participated by the senior men’s national team of all SAFF Member Associations. This time India will send their young U-23 team for this year SAFF Championships mentioned in the recent calendars from AIFF.
Participating teams:
- India U-23
- Maldives
- Nepal
- Bangladesh
- Srilanka
- Bhutan
- Pakistan
Why are India sending their U23 teams to 2023 SAFF?
Indian football federation wants their younger generations to get international experience. As India national men's team will busy in playing the Hero Intercontinental Cup 2023 which starts from 8-18 June. 4 Teams from 3 different federations are invited for the competition to be hosted in India. Also AIFF are taking the competition as the 2024 AFC Asian U-23 Qualifiers to be held from 4-12 September 2023 ( 3 months after the competition).
SAFF 2023 Competition Format
The precise format and schedule of the SAFF Championship are yet to be approved and therefore cannot be confirmed. However, for information purposes only, the current proposed format of the SAFF Championship are as follows:
- It will consist of seven (7) teams.
- It will have a group stage with two (2) groups, one with four (4) teams and another with three (3) teams.
- It will then be followed by a knock-out stage comprising two (2) semi-final Matches with two (2) top teams from each group.
- It will conclude with a final Match with the winners of the two (2) semi-final Matches. Therefore, the entire SAFF Championship may have a maximum of twelve (12) Matches.